Thunder Spirits
by Crowned Clown X
Summary: Lucy felt guilty about the Phantom Lord Attack, so she leaves for years. Master orders Laxus to accompany her. Relationships will be smarked, feelings will go into turmoil, and ultimate powers will be gained. Find out the burden Lucy and Laxus have been given, and I'm not talking about their relationship.
1. Chapter 1: Phantom Lord No More

**Author's Note: Please Read- **Yes, I am starting this story right as the tournament begins in my other story. I just wanted to get this out there before I forget about it. This story will also involve music, that's just how I role. So I ask that when a song appears, you listen to the song by any means you wish. I'm not entirely sure how this story will go, I only have the beginning planned out.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the music played in this story.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angelo

The Journey Begins

Prologue

Phantom Lord. It was once one of the strongest guilds in all of Fiore. Said to be of equal strength to Fairy Tail. But as their headquarters lays in ruins, one of Fiore's strongest guilds is no more.

They had just recently attacked the guild said to be their only equal. And they were defeated, by that guild. Their reason foul. Besides for their cruel pride and petty jealousy, they had received a request. A mission to find a missing girl. The requester, Jude Heartfilia, one of Fiore's richest men in history. The girl, his daughter, a run away and a Fairy Tail mage.

This story is not what happened during this epic battle of good versus evil. No, this story is of what happened after the battle. About how this young seventeen year old tries to right the wrong that began with her, so very long ago. Her name is Lucy Hearfilia, and this is her story.

Chapter 1: Phantom Lord No More

Lucy looked up at the building being renovated, fixed. Not even one week before that day, another guild, Phantom Lord, had attacked her guild, Fairy Tail. They had been after her. Her father had ordered them to capture her and bring the blond back to him. Lucy new that her father, Jude Heartfilia, would try to get her to come back, in some way or form. But she had not expected him to be prepared to destroy her second home.

All that week, members of the guild had been working on the guild building. Making it bigger and better than before. She had tried to help out as well, but she was to weak to help. This only added to the guilt she felt inside.

Her friends had constantly given her their encouragements. Telling her that it wasn't her fault, that she was not to be blamed for the misdeeds of her father. But Lucy knew the truth. The only reason this had happened was because she had run away from home. If Lucy had stayed then maybe her friends, her new family, would all be happy, safe, and out of danger from another attack. Thoughts like these were always haunting Lucy, making her feel worse and worse.

She felt guilty for the deadly attack. The celestial mage wanted to make it right, and there was only one way she knew how. With a mind set, the young teen walked around the construction site, looking for her master.

As she was walking around, Levy, Lucy's best friend in the world, ran up to the blond, the other teens blue hair bouncing. "Lu-chan! What are you doing out here? You should be working on your book! You promised I would be the first to read it remember?"

Lucy remembered. With the guild being rebuilt, the aspiring writer had plenty of free time on her hands. Free time she used on writing her novel, trying to distract her from the guilty thoughts that plagued her mind. _At least something useful came out of this._ Lucy thought, smiling at her best friend.

Lucy, hoping to find her master quickly, responded, "I know, I was just looking for master. I wanted to talk to him about something."

Levy, confused by this, faced her friend, eyes squinted, asked, "He's in the basement, drinking. No surprise there really. Why?"

Lucy, telling only half the truth, said sheepishly, "Oh, nothing. Just a little surprise for everyone, is all." With that, the blond walked away. Levy stared after her, wondering what kind of surprise it would be. Unable to decide, she walked away, off to do things that only Levy's do.

**...**

Lucy looked around Fairy Tail's basement. She spotted her old master, Makarov, sitting on the makeshift bar. Drinking, just like Levy had said. The blond walked up to the powerful mage. She could smell the alcohol in the air, yet he wasn't drunk. He was close, but not quite yet.

"Master, may I speak with you in private?" The blond whispered.

Makarov looked up from his mug, a little tipsy, and said, "Why? Whatever you need to say, you can say here in front of witnesses."

Tears appeared in the blond's eyes, she had wanted to get this over with quickly. "Master! This is important! I want to throw a surprise for the guild. There are a few small things as well, though."

Makarov saw the tears appear in the girl's eyes. Now aware of what was going on, set down his mug. "Alright, Lucy. We can talk in the storage room. Follow me." The Fairy Tail master jumped off the bar, and walked to a small door to the left. He waved for Lucy to follow, then walked through the door.

Lucy did as she was told. As the blond walked through the door, she quickly closed it as well. Once done, she turned to face her master. He wore a look of all seriousness. "Thank you for seeing me, master."

"My pleasure Lucy. What is it you need to talk about?" Makarov questioned. He could tell already he wasn't going to like this.

"Well... would... would you prefer the happy, good stuff first, or the bad, unhappy stuff first?" Lucy knew that she needed to tread lightly. That this conversation could easily go down hill for her.

Makarov, surprised by this answer, quickly stated, "Let's go with the bad first, maybe the good will lighten the mood afterwords."

Lucy giggled at his reply, then told him her request. "I-I was hoping you would allow me to go on a leave of absence, sort of speak."

The old master frowned at this. He did not want to let her go, but he needed to know the reason why first. "Lucy, I only have one question. Why? Why do something on such a grand scale?"

Lucy chose her words carefully. She was fully aware of what was at stake. "Master, I'll answer your question with another. Have you ever had someone close to you get hurt? To regret that, to feel as if it's entirely your fault?" Makarov nodded. He knew the feeling all to well. "Well that's why. You and the rest of the guild may not think it was my fault, but I do. Phantom Lord came after me. My father hired them to come after me. And he will do so again." Lucy paused. Waiting for a sign to go on. After none came, she continued anyways.

"That's why I need to go. I need to train so that I don't have to rely on everyone else. So that I can start protecting them. I know I'm being selfish, but..." Lucy was starting to tear up again. She wasn't ready yet. But the sooner the better. "But this is something I need to do. For myself. I couldn't live with it if someone died trying to protect me."

Makarov took all this in. He had never realized how deep Lucy's guilt ran. But he also realized that what she said was true. Her father would go after the guild again. But now he was faced with more questions. "How long would you plan to be gone? How would you train? Are you going to tell anyone else?"

Lucy shook. She knew this would not be easy, but she hadn't expected it to be this hard. Tears were falling down her face now. Even though she expected questions to be asked, she had not taken time to think her answers through. At them, she panicked."I-I'm not sure. Maybe two years, probably four. I'm going to need time to get everything straightened out."

Makarov was shocked. He had thought she would be gone for only a month, maybe two, three at most. But four years! He didn't know what to think anymore. But this was her decision, and he was going to respect it. "Huh, alright. You may go. But how will you train?"

Lucy was surprised to hear her master agree so readily. It made her feel somewhat unwanted. She was sure he had his reasons, though, and the she wasn't going to question them.

She thought through her answer. Weighing the different options. I could find another guild to join for a while. Or I could just wonder around the continent, searching for keys and other celestial mages to help her. Or she could travel around the only the country, staying within the border of Fiore.

After several minutes, she had decided. "I-I think I'll travel around the continent. I've finished my first book, I could get it published and earn money that way. Maybe even get inspiration for a sequel." The blond teen explained he plan, actually getting excited for the adventure to come.

Makarov looked at the floor. A grim expression on his face. If she were to travel all over the continent, she would need more than four years. Six at least. He did not approve of the plan, but just as he told himself minutes before. It was Lucy's decision, he would allow her to decide her own fate.

"If you're going to travel that much, you're going to need more than four years, at least six." The old man explained. "Also, I do not think it's wise to tell the other members of your plans, especially your old team. That may only make it more difficult for you."

Lucy froze, she had forgotten about the others. _What will they do? How will they react? Master is right, I shouldn't tell them._ It took Lucy some time before she calmed down enough to speak again, but Makarov waited patiently. When she was, she agreed with the powerful wizard. "You're right, I think. It would be bad to tell the others."

Makarov and Lucy stood there quietly for a while. After a bit of time passed on, the awkward silence was broken when Makarov spoke up. "Lucy, you said you had some good news as well?"

Lucy looked up, surprised. She had been planning the day and how she would leave. "Oh, yes. I did. Well... um... it's not necessarily good news, but it might make leaving easier." Lucy paused, Makarov looked down to the floor nodding. The teen continued, "I would like to put on a small concert tonight. Sing a song for everyone. Cheer them up, or something like that. I haven't chosen a song yet, though."

Makarov looked into Lucy's eyes, trying to see if she were hiding anything from him. He could not tell, however, because suddenly Mira jane walked into the storage room. "Master, I think a concert would be a great idea! it could really excite everyone and speed up the building process!"

Lucy looked at Mira horrified, how much had she heard? Makarov spoke up first though, "Mira! Were you eavesdropping on us?"

Mira, who just realized her mistake, quickly defended herself. "What? No! No, no! You both were back here for a while, so I came to see how you two were doing. And when I got to the door I heard Lucy talk about the concert! Oh, I'm so excited! I'll go set everything up for tonight!" Mira ran out of the room then.

Makarov looked at Lucy to see her looking at her feet. Fear was still etched on her face. The powerful old mage gave her some words of encouragement, "Don't worry, Lucy. I doubt Mirajane heard anything else." Lucy looked up and smiled weakly. "Now you run home and pack. Talk with your landlord about your apartment, tell them that Fairy Tail will be paying the rent while your gone."

Lucy was shocked. She couldn't believe the offer her master was giving her, "A-a-are you sure? I mean, that's quite expensive and-" The blond was unable to finish her sentence, for Makarov interrupted her.

"Don't worry, my child. Everything will be fine. I will handle it." The Fairy Tail master reassured.

"Well, alright. If you're sure..."

"Don't worry. Just go pack." He then added as an afterthought. "And pick out the song you'll be singing, too."

"Right, by Master!" With that, the blond left. Lucy ran all the way to her apartment.

She packed all her clothes away into her suitcase. She then took two of the three binders on her desk and put them into her bag. These had the beginnings of other books she was writing. She also took two books from her shelf, and put them in the bag as well. These were the book she had already written. One would go to Levy, the other, a publishing company.

The blond teen packed the rest of what she would need. When that was done, she threw all the food she had away, which wasn't very much anyways.

When Lucy finally finished these chores of hers, she went to her desk and opened up the last binder. This binder housed the songs she had written over the past few years, and still liked. She flipped through the pages, searching for the perfect song. When she found the right song at last, she sang it a few times, remembering he lyrics. It took her some time, but she eventually got it down.

Lucy looked at her clock, she had about one hour till the concert. Lucy thought back to when she had been running back to her apartment. Mirajane had stopped Lucy to tell her that the concert was at seven. The young teen chuckled at the memory, then exited her home. Down a few houses, Lucy walked, until she arrived at her landlady's home.

Not even two seconds after Lucy nocked on the door did her landlord appear. "Hello, Lucy. How can I help you?"

"Mrs. Landlady, hi! I need to talk to you about my apartment." Lucy paused as her landlord only watched. "I will be going on a trip to train, and won't be back for a few years, but Fairy Tail says they'll pay for it, so if you could just not sell it to someone else..." Lucy explained.

"Don't worry, Lucy. As long as rent is paid, the room won't be sold. Be safe while training. I don't want to end up with a dead client."

"Y-yes, of course, Mrs. Landlady, thank you!" Lucy then walked back towards the guild, the show would start soon, and it would be the perfect time to leave


	2. Chapter 2: Breaking Away

Chapter 2: Breaking Away

RECAP: "Y-yes, of course, Mrs. Landlady, thank you!" Lucy then walked back towards the guild, the show would start soon, and it would be the perfect time to leave.

As Lucy walked up to the building under construction, she could feel the tension building with in her. The blond still wasn't sure if she was strong enough to do this. She did know, however, that if she stayed, her friends would only get hurt, and that was something she couldn't deal with.

So, with newfound determination, Lucy walked down to the basement of the guild. Makarov had watched Lucy come in with her items, so he distracted Mirajane while she moved them to the storage area. The blond quickly walked out of the room and over to Mira, hoping to mot be seen.

Mira quickly saw her as she approached, "Ah, Lucy. Could you set up for your performance? You'll be the first to perform. I need to go call everyone in." The takeover mage walked briskly over to the stair case and out of the basement.

As soon as the white haired girl was gone, Makarov asked Lucy, "My child, are you sure you want to do this? It's not to late to change your mind." The Fairy Tail master was deeply worried, Lucy had become a large part of the guild even though she had only been there for nearly a year.

Lucy, who was still very nervous, nodded silently. She was eager to get this over with. Makarov nodded as well, but then added, "Lucy, give me your right hand." Lucy gave him her hand, and as he held it, a searing pain shot through her arm. Fortunately, the pain disappeared as soon as it had come.

The blond looked at her hand, frozen in place. Her hand was bare, no pink was on it anywhere. The young teen began to tremble, but was comforted by her master. "Lucy, the mark might begone now. But when you are ready to return, it shall as well." The celestial mage nodded, tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, the two mages heard a group of people outside. Realizing that she still hadn't set up for her performance, Lucy ran over to the stage and began to prepare. To her surprise though, there wasn't much to actually do. All she needed to do was turn on the microphones that would float around her and input the music into the magic music box.

That's when people started to file into the basement. Each one stood somewhere, staring up at the blond on the makeshift stage. Quickly everyone filled the room. When the lights went off except for a select few that were concentrated on her, Lucy knew it was time to begin.

"H-hi everyone! Hope you all have been safe rebuilding." Lucy was interrupted from her greeting by a roar of answers and reassurances. Lucy smiled, "Good, good. Well then, since all of you have worked so hard, it's time I worked as well. So I'm here to perform a little entertainment for you." The teen was met by applause and cheers.

Lucy continued, each second growing harder for her. "This is a song that I wrote myself, so I hope you all like it." The guild members clapped once again, but was quickly silenced by Erza, who was obviously looking forward to the song.

After a few moments the song began.

(Song and artist: Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson)

_*Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be_

_And if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray (I would pray)_

_Trying hard to reach out_

_But when I tried to speak out_

_Felt like no one could hear me_

_Wanted to belong here_

_But something felt so wrong here_

_So I prayed I could break away_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky_

_And I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Wanna feel the warm breeze_

_Sleep under a palm tree_

_Feel the rush of the ocean_

_Get onboard a fast train_

_Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)_

_And breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky_

_And I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Buildings with a hundred floors_

_Swinging around revolving doors_

_Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but_

_Gotta keep moving on, moving on_

_Fly away, breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings_

_And I'll learn how to fly_

_Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye_

_I gotta take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget the place I come from_

_I gotta take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway_

As the blond finished, the crowd in front of her cheered, whooping and screaming their approval. Many of them wanted an encore. Lucy was torn between giving them what they wanted and what she was sure they needed. After a few moments, the crowd finally died down enough for her to speak.

Lucy walked up to the microphone, scared of what would happen. "S-sorry guys. No encore tonight. I'm sure Mira has a busy schedule." The teen then walked off the stage to the disappointment of her guild mates.

It was Mira's turn in the limelight now. As the white haired mage announced that she herself would be performing as well, everyone stared intently at her. Everyone was curious about Mirajane would do, even Lucy. But she needed to leave before it was too late. So the blond quickly walked off to the storage area and retrieved her bags.

Using the darkness of the rest of the room, Lucy snuck out of the guild building. While passing through the gate to the building, the blond turned around. In only a few days, the building was nearly half done. The teamwork that breathed throughout the guild left her feeling even more guilty.

The blond turned for a second time, now facing the road to the train station. She promised her master she would explore the world, and she would. Lucy just had a stop to make first. And with an unknown source of determination, the young teen was off. Welcoming a future more dire then she thought.

∆**POV**

Makarov watched one of his favorite children leave the basement. Unshed tears threatening to fall. He hadn't thought she would actually leave. But now it was obvious how much she loved her family.

Thinking back on all the memories he had of the young girl, Makarov walked out of the basement. Once outside, he looked around to examine the work on the new guild building. In such a short time they had done so much. The powerful mage took this as a message for the future. If their guild could accomplish so much in such a short time, just how powerful will Lucy become on her adventure? How will she change? How will the rest of the guild change? He dreaded these questions, wishing that nothing had to change. Little did he know, changes would be made soon, and so much bigger than he could imagine.

∆**POV**

Lucy was now waiting for her train to arrive. Each moment making it harder and harder for the blond. _You have to be strong, Lucy. Be strong just this once._ Lucy stood up, her train was now arriving.

Suddenly, she felt a cold presence in the train station. Almost everyone else there did as well, for each and every person searched for the source. It took almost a minute, but Lucy finally spotted him. It was a tall man, probably early to mid 20's. He had blond hair spiked up. He had on a pair of headphones and a purple button up shirt. Hanging from his shoulders was a black trench coat with fur lining.

She, along with everyone but the tall blond man, coward in fear. They all kept silent, afraid of what would happen if he was disturbed. As he walked closer, she saw the anger in his eyes. Terrified, Lucy quickly looked down to her feet. This state of fear was kept until the man left the station.

Lucy didn't know what, but knew that a terrible future was going to meet Fairy Tail soon. And she was sure that man would be the cause of it


	3. Chapter 3: Student And Teacher

Chapter 3: Student And Teacher

Lucy's train never arrived that night. She was wrong about the one that had arrived before, it hadn't been hers. It was going to a city farther away then the blond intended to start from. So Lucy merely slept in the station. Besides her keys she had nothing of value, she even had the look that she didn't, so no one disturbed the blond after she had fallen asleep.

∆**POV**

The performances were now over, and all the Fairy Tail members slowly walked home. Erza, Natsu, Happy, and Grey stayed behind looking for Lucy. They wanted to congratulate their friend on her amazing performance. everyone in the guild thought it might have been something she wrote when she left her father. None of them even considered the fact that her song was to them.

The group searched the guild but couldn't find her. They searched her apartment but Lucy was still missing. When the team couldn't even find their friend any where in the city, they began to worry. Unsuccessful, the four mages continued to search till the next day. When morning rolled around, Erza, Natsu and Grey stumbled into Fairy Tail. Happy was laying on Natsu's head.

The rest of the guild however, had of energy to spare. After an exciting day before and a good nights rest, the guild members had gotten up early and finished the new guild building. The new guild was twice as big as the last one.

Mirajane was the first to notice the group walk in. The white haired girl exclaimed, "Hi guys!" But as they came closer, she saw that something was wrong.

Once they reached the bar, Erza spoke with Mira first, "Mira, we need your help."

Mira was confused, why would they need her help? In hopes of an answer, she asked, "My help? What's wrong?"

It was Happy who spoke up next, mumbling. "Lucy's missing"

Mira, shocked by the unexpected news, freaked out, "What! Lucy's missing!"

The rest of the guild heard this, for the white haired girl had shouted at the top of her lungs, and started freaking out as well. In his office, Makarov heard the racket and walked out to see what the problem was. He instantly regretted doing so, for when he reached the railing, the stares of all the guild members were on him.

Mirajane called up to him from the bar, her face streaked with tears. "Master! Lucy's missing!"

The Fairy Tail master remained calm, preparing his voice for the announcment about to be made. "Do not worry my children! Lucy is not missing." Sighs of relief could be heard through out the guild. "Our beloved celestial mage has left to train." The sighs stopped, and were replaced with gasps of surprise.

Erza called up to her master next. "Master, how long will Lucy be training? Where is she? I would like to join her."

Makarov looked down at Erza glumly, a frown covering his face, "Lucy plans to travel the continent. Because of this, she will be gone for almost six years."

Shouts of disapproval and shock rung through out the building again. Sobs and crying mixed in. Natsu was worse then all the others, he was a tangle of mess. He was shocked, angry, and hurt all at the same time.

When he had finally calmed down enough to talk, the dragon slayer yelled at Makarov, "There's no way she would leave! We're her nakama! Why would she leave without saying goodbye?"

So that he wouldn't have to repeat himself, Makarov yelled out, "Silence!"

It was then that someone entered the guild, but no one looked to see who. Everyone was busy with their dilemma concerning Lucy. Makarov spoke up again so that he was heard, "Lucy did say goodbye. Last night, the song she sang to all of us was her goodbye. I can only imagine how she felt towards your reaction."

The mysterious person spoke up now, gathering the attention of the guild, "Who's Lucy and why did she leave?"

The Fairy Tail members turned to see who it was that spoke out. As soon as they had, everyone went quiet. But then they all began to whisper his name.

The man repeated himself, "I said, who is Lucy and why did she leave?"

Makarov spoke to him, "Laxus, Lucy is a member of the guild who joined while you were away. She left because she felt responsible for the attack by Phantom Lord."

Grey yelled out at this last sentence, "But we all agreed that it wasn't her fault!"

The rest of the guild murmured their agreement, but then Laxus spoke up again, "So this Lucy just walked out on the guild?"

Makarov grew annoyed by all the questions but kept himself calm, "No, she didn't. She wanted to protect everyone here, so she left. Lucy said her goodbyes last night, and through song no less."

Suddenly a magic projection appeared on the wall to the right, and Lucy's performance was being shown. Fairy Tail was quiet as they watched Lucy perform. Listening closely to the lyrics, the members of the famous guild realized that she had in fact said goodbye.

When the performance ended and the projection disappeared, and everyone was silent. Almost everyone. Laxus broke out laughing.

When he finally stopped, he exclaimed, "I might let her stay in the guild when I become master. Her voice and looks are the only things good about her. Not that good, but still."

The guild went into an uproar. What Laxus had just said only proved once again how conceited and arrogant he is. Yelling and shouting filled the building for what seemed like eternity.

Makarov had enough of this, however. "Quiet!" He carried out the single word until no one dared to speak. He then pointed a single finger to his grandson, "Laxus. I've had enough of your attitude. You will find Lucy and travel with her!"

For the third time that hour, an uproar erupted. Makarov, however, was done with these outbursts, "Quiet! None of you shall speak again until I tell you to, got it?"

The old mage faced Laxus, waiting for an answer. He quickly got one, "What makes you think I'll do what you tell me to do, gramps?"

The old mage merely smirked, "Because she'll be gone for six years. And if I ever see either of you without the other, I will personally punish you." The master then gave a glare ten times worse than one of Erza's.

Laxus was truly terrified by this threat. He knew what his grandfather was capable of and didn't want to face it head on. The blond didn't show this fear however, and merely frowned. "Ugh, fine. I'll go look for her."

Laxus walked out of the guild and off to the train station. He hadn't even been in Magnolia for even a day and already he had to leave. When Laxus arrived at the station, he bought a ticket for the train that would leave the soonest.

The mage was angered when the ticket woman said, "I'm sorry sir. Due to technical difficulties we have no trains scheduled for today. However, a train that was supposed to arrive yesterday has yet to come, so you might be able to ride that one. We were notified that it should be arriving in about ten minutes."

Laxus, calming himself down, said, "Huh, fine. I'll take that one." He then paid for his ticket and walked away.

He walked over to a bench to see a girl sleeping. He recognized her. It was Lucy, the girl he was supposed to find and help train. _Well that was easy._ The blond mage examined the other blond. Now that he got a closer look, Laxus saw just how good looking she was. _Wow, she looks good. Not my type though._

Laxus gently shook her, trying to wake her up. Unsuccessful, he zapped her with some electricity.

∆**POV**

Lucy jumped with a shock. Quite literally. Someone shocked her awake. The blond looked behind her to see the man from the night before. Before she could say anything, though, he asked her.

"You Lucy?" Lucy merely nodded. The blond man smirked, then spoke again. "Name's Laxus, gramps asked me to travel with you and help you train. And from the looks of you, it seems I have a lot of work ahead of me."

Lucy was mad. She didn't even know this guy but already he was insulting her! "Don't insult me when I don't even know you! And what makes you think I'll go anywhere with you?"

Laxus emitted a deep growl and scowled, "Listen, I wouldn't be here if I had a say in this, but I have to be here so you're stuck with me, like it or not. I already know I don't."

This only made Lucy even angrier, "Don't go saying that when you know nothing about me! Who says I have to go with you anyways?"

Laxus was quickly getting annoyed by this girl. She had bite, he would give her that, but that wasn't enough. "Master says, that's who. So either you stay here and get arid of me, or leave and deal with me. Your choice."

Lucy sighed in defeat. It was to late to go back, so she was stuck with this jerk. "Fine, you can come." The blond sat back down on the bench and patted the spot next to her.

Laxus sat down. The two remained silent until the train came. When the two boarded was when they finally began to speak to each other.

"So where do you intend to go first?" Laxus asked. He needed to come up with a training plan for the girl.

"I heard about a place on the peninsula to the north that has more information than anywhere else on celestial magic. So I thought I would head up the river and the coast on my way there." Lucy explained, she thought that it would be a good start to her journey.

Laxus merely chuckled, "Yeah, I guess that would be a good place to start. But we'll be going there my way." Lucy gave the other blond a skeptical look. The adult continued, "When we reach Clover Town, we'll go on foot. That will give us plenty of time to train you."

Lucy's eyes went wide. "Y-you can't be serious! Do you know how far that is! It'll take us months to get there!"

The thunder mage just looked at Lucy with a bored look. "Yeah, that's the idea. It'll give us plenty of time to train you."

Lucy looked out the window in defeat. The train was starting to move. The teen looked back at her new traveling partner. "If we're stuck together for six years, we might as well get to know each other now instead of later when we hat each other's guts."

Laxus nodded and turned to his new student. The two started talking and learning about each other. They soon discovered they had more in common then they thought


	4. Chapter 4: Contact

Chapter 4: Contact

**~ 5 Months Later ~**

Lucy and Laxus had arrived at their destination in the north nearly two weeks prior to that present day. When they had arrived, the two discovered that the building was an abandoned cathedral. The majestic building was being protected by the Spirit King, for it was the last of shrines to the Celestial Spirits.

Not long after the mages had arrived that they came across six of the Zodiac Spirits. When they had been found, the Spirit King explained their presence. When the owner of a Zodiac Spirit dies without them passing on said Spirit, they go to their respective temples. But since the one the group stood in was the last, the Spirits all came here.

The Spirit King gave Lucy the six Spirits, in hopes of giving them happiness again. He had also given information on the Cathedral and it's store of information. What he had said was still fresh in Lucy's mind.

_"Old friend. Neither you nor your companion may reveal the location of this temple nor it's existence. If it were to be discovered by someone other than one pure of heart, the Celestial World would disappear, as well as all Celestial Spirits._

_ "You and your companion may find all the information on Celestial Magic you need in the library. But all of the books and relics you find must stay inside the building."_

Both she and Laxus had agreed to his terms. And here they were, currently residing in the Celestial Cathedral. Lucy, since she was a celestial mage, was fascinated by everything in the ancient building. Laxus couldn't care less about the knowledge held in the library, or at least acted that way.

Whenever she would be training, either in magic or physically, she would spot her blond companion in the library reading the books she had finished. Looks of fascination on his face. Even though he attempted for this to be a secret, Lucy was touched by his interest in her magic.

She, herself, had been curious about his thunder magic and had asked a never ending tirade of questions. Three days after they arrived, she found a book that explained combining the powers of her spirits or with an outside elemental force. Thanks to this and her intense questioning of Laxus's magic, she was able to apply a, quite literally, electric boost to her spirits. Also, being around Natsu and Grey so much allowed her to give her spirits boosts with fire and ice as well.

The blond girl was thankful for more than expected when they reached the cathedral. It was thanks to their arrival that Lucy's physical training was cut down to take nearly a fourth amount of time as it used to. Before, Laxus would make her perform insane acts like carrying a boulder three times her size up a large hill. Or climb seventy foot trees to make sure they were going the right way. Even though she hated the training, Lucy had to admit that it became easier each time compared to ones in the past.

Lucy and Laxus planned to leave three days from now. Today was to finish the few books left in the library. Both of them had been using Gale-Force Reading Glasses, allowing them to tear through the knowledge hidden within the numerous books significantly quicker than before. The next two days were to be used to test out Lucy's new skills and ask the Spirit King any questions they had.

After they left, they both agreed to travel to the South-West and explore the mountains there. They would spend about a year there, then travel to countries west of Fiore.

∆**POV**

It had been five months since Lucy and Laxus had left to train. Everyone in the guild was worried about the blond girl's safety. If she was traveling with Laxus, he would be working her to death. They could only pity the young celestial mage.

Team Natsu, however, did not pity their teammate. In fact, quite the opposite. Erza, Natsu, and Grey believed in Lucy. The three were sure that she could not only deal with Laxus. They did have their worries though, such as what Laxus would do if they made each other angry.

Everyone in the guild, however, knew that when Lucy came back, if she came back, she would be stronger than ever. So each person, even nab, went on requests with an excitement that rivaled Natsu's.

Makarov thought back on all of this as he did his dreaded paperwork. Even though he enjoyed the eagerness, he missed Lucy. One night, after the guild had held one of the parties it was rumored to throw, she had told him that, despite his age, he was the parent she never had.

Even though many of the members of the guild had lost their parents when they were young, they had at least had a parent or parent-like figure. Lucy however, did not. All of this information made the Fairy Tail master grow closer to the young teen faster and stronger then the others. It also made it harder for him to let go of her, even if it was only temporary.

Suddenly, two thought projections appeared before him. The old master looked up to see who it was, and teared up when he did.

Makarov stood up and approached the thought projections. "Laxus, Lucy."

"Hi master!" Lucy giggled at his reaction. Total disbelief covering his face.

"Hey gramps." Laxus wore a bored expression, a book in one of his hands. His hair had become longer, his muscles larger and more defined. But most importantly, he gave off an aura just slightly gentler than before.

Makarov was shocked by the sight of them. They hadn't contacted him in months. The young teen had grown slightly taller, her hair was longer too, and she had an air of confidence around her. "Lucy, you can produce thought projections!"

Lucy nodded and giggled again, "Yep, Laxus taught me how."

Makarov turned to face Laxus now, "And Laxus, reading! Never woulda' thought that possible."

Laxus growled and spat out, "You be quiet old man!"

Lucy and Makarov merely laughed, causing Laxus to blink then blush. Seeing him blush caused the other two to start laughing again. Once they both quieted down, Laxus and Lucy stood next to each other. Closer than Makarov would've expected.

"So," The old mage began, after emitting a single cough into his hand, he continued, "how has your training been progressing?"

Lucy spoke up, seeing as how the question was directed to her, "It's been going really well. The training Laxus has put me through is rough, but worth it. We've been at a library for a while now," Lucy began, using the name for the cathedral that she and Laxus had agreed on. The blond teen then continued, "They have a great selection for celestial mages! And even Laxus has been reading them!"

Laxus then defended himself by saying, "W-what! No I haven't! I've been training!"

Lucy just snorted then teased, "Yeah, training your brain."

Laxus yelled out in anger, "No I haven't! If you don't shut up about books, girlie, your going to have to do a hundred laps around the building!" The thunder mage threatened.

Lucy merely snorted again, "Laxus, you're holding a book right now. In fact, it's the last one I read. And don't think I haven't seen you reading in the library either, right next to the stack of the ones I've already read."

Makarov raised an eyebrow quizically as his grandson blushed. Lucy then added as an afterthought, "And really, a hundred laps? You've had me do worse than that! Plus, I'm the one who cooks the food you eat and cleans the clothes you wear, so I don't think you're the one to make threats." The blond teen then stuck out her toung mockingly.

Makarov chuckled as the scene before him unfolded. He hadn't seen Laxus act this way in years. Nor had he seen anyone act this way with him. The old mage chuckled then said, "Well I'm sure both of you have work to do, so I won't hold you any longer."

The two blonds nodded and said their goodbyes. The young mages quickly flickered out of sight.

Sighing happily, Makarov climbed into the chair behind his desk. I felt nice to see the two again and witness how lively the two of them were. To hear their voices again. To watch the budding romance between the two. Just thinking about a romantic relationship between the two shocked him, but he would support them. The old man then returned to the despised-by-all mound of paper work on his desk.

Suddenly, there was knock at his door. It was gentle, so he was sure that it was most likely Mirajane. He called out, "Come in, Mira."

The door opened to reveal the take over mage, just like Makarov anticipated. She had a look of confusion on her face. Silently, she walked up to stand in front of her master's desk.

"Master, how often have you spoken with Lucy and Laxus these past few months?" The white haired girl questioned.

The powerful mage gulped. How would he get himself out of this


	5. Chapter 5: 3rd Generation

Chapter 5: 3rd Generation

**~7 Months Later~**

Lucy was now annoyed. For a month she and Laxus had been traveling the stupid mountain range. And she had no idea why. When they had first arrived, Laxus had her make a cave. So, with the amazingly awesome help of Virgo, they had their very own luxury cave, completed with not one, not two, not even three, but an unlimited supply of rocks.

It was official, Lucy hated it here. She would be fine with the place if Laxus stayed there with her. They had been there for only two days, but Laxus would leave early in the morning and come back late at night. Leaving Lucy to do whatever she wanted in the cave.

Almost everyday, she would train. But since she wasn't equipped to go out into the constant blizzard that would rage outside, she had limited choice. Her daily routine went as follows:

One, eat a bland breakfast of some sort of jerky made from an unknown animal.

Two, run laps around the cave for however long she felt like going.

Three, plan out what to do once they leave the mountain range.

Four, train in magical power.

Five, make dinner and wait for Laxus.

Six, bandage up Laxus's injuries from who knows what.

Lucy hated having to live like this for so long. She was fine when they were traveling, because each day was different. But here in the mountain, it was boring. Luckily, a few days before, her spirits gave her some new weapons. Virgo gave her a new whip, the Fleuve d'étoiles. Libra, one of her knew spirits, gave her a weapon Lucy was sure would cause herself more pain than her enemies. Libra gave the blond a scythe.

The rod of the scythe was as dark as the night sky. Where as the blade glowed silver and was shaped like a crescent moon. It's name was Moonlight Reaper. Libra was teaching her how to use the mystical weapon, but Lucy nearly cut off a limb by simply being near the tool. Libra, by the way, was one of Lucy's more interesting spirits.

She was a brunette, with short, cropped hair. Her skin was a light brown. She wore a crisp, black business suit. Libra also had bat ears. Lucy didn't understand why the Spirit had bat ears, but didn't question her.

Though terrible with Moonlight Reaper, Lucy quickly learned the basics in the weapons use. Lucy changed her third thing to do from planning to scythe training with Libra.

Today, however, was different, today she would follow Laxus.

Laxus had left early that morning, just like the weeks before. Lucy knew she had to act quickly or else lose him. So as she strapped on her keys, her new whip, and grabbed her new scythe, the blond quickly ran out of the cave. Laxus had no idea she was following so he didn't bother hiding his magical presence. Lucy was thankful for this as she quietly followed her companion.

_Why am I following him anyways? I'm sure he has a good reason for not telling me, but... but.._ Lucy felt a strange sensation well within her. Was it fear? Fear of what? Unable to come up with an answer, Lucy continued on.

As Lucy followed, she became swallowed by a blizzard stronger than any other. Determined however, the celestial mage continued onward. After some time, Lucy found that Laxus had entered another cave.

_Really! Really! He had me make a cave for us when he already knew there was one here! Oh, when I find him, he's dead._

As Lucy continued on into the cave, she would see claw marks on the floor and walls. She would see the remains of, what looked like to her, multiple battles. Lucy continued to examine the remains while searching for Laxus. Eventually, the blond came across a steep drop.

When she looked over the edge of the cliff, she saw the ground nearly thirty feet down. Lucy only smirked as she took a step back. Then, without hesitation, jumped. Her golden hair whipping around above her, Lucy fell. As soon as the celestial mage hit the ground, she jumped forward, sprinting to her unknown destination.

The teen soon slowed down, now returning to a quick pace. The blond walked a few steps then gasped. All around the cave, on the floor, walls, even the ceiling, dried blood could be found. Lucy stared at the splotches of blood around her, now scared at what Laxus has been getting himself into.

Lucy started running again, frantic in finding her blond companion. Quickly she came upon a large cavern. Piles of gold surrounded the exterior while the center was bare. As Lucy approached, gems and relics could be found within the piles as well.

Almost in the exact center of the room, Laxus stood. He was calling out for something, staring at a hole in the wall near the ceiling. His back was turned to the blond, so she hid behind a pile near her, concealing her magic. Laxus continued to call, until finally a tremendous roar echoed through out the cavern. Moments later, a great beast flew out of the opening to stand in front Laxus.

Lucy stared in awe at the awesome creature. She was a witness to one of the largest spectacles ever. The creature that stood before her was long and slender, but at least three times taller than Laxus himself. From it's back grew two large, golden, bat like wings. It's under belly was as white as clouds, but it's back, tail, neck and head were a radiant gold. Lucy was in the audience of a dragon.

Lucy tore her eyes away from the dragon to look at Laxus. The teen was shocked to see that Laxus wasn't scared or surprised, but talking with the dragon. From where she stood, nothing could be heard. Lucy did not risk getting closer, though. It was obvious that the blond girl shouldn't be there. So Lucy simply sat down behind the gold and watched the two.

After some time, Laxus and the dragon took what seemed to be battle stances. Lucy looked on, curious as to what was unfolding before her eyes. Thunder magic was launched by Laxus at the dragon, but was easily deflected by an invisible force. Next, thunder erupted from the dragon, blasted out from it's mouth. Laxus jumped to the side, dodging the attack.

The battle continued on like this for some time. Lucy continued to watch the battle from her hiding spot. But suddenly, with out warning, a shock rasped the blond's body. Unconscious, Lucy fell over, sparks flying from her unmoving body, small burns covering her young body.

∆**POV**

Laxus was in the middle of his fight with Lei-zi, when suddenly he smelled something. It smelt as if something was burning. The blond held up a hand, signaling the dragon to stop. The thunder dragon did as it was told.

Suddenly, a feminine voice appeared in Laxus's head. _You smell it as well?_

Laxus nodded, then walked over to where the smell was. He was confused, the scent came from behind a pile of gold. As Laxus looked behind the gold, he fell to his knees. It was Lucy.

She was covered in burns. Sparks were flying from her like he didn't know possible. Laxus kneeled next to the other blond, tears unknowingly filling his eyes.

Lei-zi's voice filled his mind again. _Who is she, Laxus?_

Laxus looked up at his dragon mentor, his tears threatening to fall, "She is the one I've been traveling with. Her name is Lucy." Laxus then made attempted to pick up Lucy, but was violently shocked, enough to keep the blond from even touching his partner.

The dragon made a movement that seemed like a nod, then touched the tip of her tail to Lucy's chest. A small glow appeared as Laxus stared in awe as the energy left Lucy's body and traveled up Lei-zi's tail, disappearing.

_The energy has left her, but the body is still weak. It will take time for her to heal. Thunder dragon slayer magic is more dangerous than other types. She will need to be looked after._

Laxus looked down at Lucy's body, then back up to Lei-zi, "But... but how will I do that? It was just the two of us, I-I wouldn't be able to come train with you."

Lei-zi spoke calmly into Laxus's mind, _You have no need of me. You already knew so much about dragon slayer magic to begin with. I merely taught you what you could not discover on your own._

Laxus merely nodded at his dragon teacher. Slowly, he stood up, Lucy in his arms. As if breaking through a dam, the tears that were threatening to fall from Laxus's blue eyes cascaded down his face. As the blond looked down at the girl in his arms, he reflected back on everything that happened over the past year.

The two had met at the train station in Magnolia. They trained in the untamed wilds. Researched Celestial Magic in that spirit temple. Lucy had even learned how to utilize thunder magic, if to a small extent. They came to these mountains and met Lei-zi.

Remembering all these different experiences with the celestial mage caused Laxus to start to think on the smaller ones. Whenever he was injured, Lucy would show genuine concern. She would bandage him up, never complaining or asking questions, but stay silent allowing him to think and rest. The blond even cooked for them and cleaned their clothes. That smile that was always dawning her face. Those bid brown eyes that revealed a person who actually cared about others more than herself.

A mix of feelings welled within Laxus. He felt guilty for Lucy's injuries. He felt scared for her life. Hell, he even felt proud that she was able to survive the attack, let alone escape with a loss of consciousness and minor burns. But there was one feeling that Laxus felt far more than the other three. It was a feeling the blond didn't recognize. Whatever the feeling was, it made the thunder mage feel warm on the inside, made him want to remain by Lucy's side until the end of time.

Shocking him out of his reverie, Lei-zi spoke into his mind, _I sense a great power from her. One not of this world._

Laxus looked up into the face of the thunder dragon, confusion masking his scarred face, "She is a Celestial Mage, you probably sense her spirits powers. Wh-what does this have to do with anything?"

Lei-zi replied with a single word, _Everything._ With that, Lei-zi began to glow. This golden glow intensified until all that was left was a light in the form of the dragon it was before. Without warning, the mystical light began to change form.

A few moments passed until the transformation was over. The light hovered down in front of Laxus's face, then became solid. Floating before the thunder mage was a key, seemingly made from bone. On the grip was a single lightning blot.

With no idea what to do, Laxus decided that Lucy was top priority. With no free hands, Laxus struggled to grab the key hovering in mid air, but was eventually able to do so. The thunder mage slowly walked to the steep drop. There he easily jumped up with a helpful push from his lightning. The blond man soon came upon the entrance to the cave. There, he wrapped his jacket around the small girl in his arms and continued on.

It took him some time to navigate the way there, but he eventually reached the cave Lucy had made. Laxus gently laid the other blond on her makeshift bed. The older mage looked down at her face. Laxus took in the beauty of her as that unknown feeling grew larger and larger.

Realizing that her burns still needed to be treated, Laxus searched through the supplies for Lucy's first aid kit. The thunder mage may not be as skilled as his younger companion, but Lucy had taught Laxus basic first aid along with more advanced medical ways.

He had never really thought that the lessons would be needed. But as he sat next to the unconscious girl, he unendingly praised her for her insistence in him learning. After some time Laxus finished caring for Lucy, for the time anyhow. The blond man hunted down their communication lecrima afterwords.

Laxus remembered back when they had first contacted their master back at the Celestial Cathedral. It had only been a few minutes after the conversation had ended that Laxus's comm lacrima had an incoming message. When he had answered, he was surprised to see Makarov there.

That was when Makarov had told Lucy and himself that the other guild members were starting to listen in on their conversations. He had said that Mirajane had listened in on the one they just had. Makarov was able to trick her into believing that the thought projections were ones of his own creation. Used to pass the time away and help cope with their leaving. After the explanation and story, Makarov instructed them to communicate through only the comm lacrima. Laxus and Lucy had both agreed.

∆**POV**

Makarov was at his desk, sitting back and relaxing. It was over a year now since Lucy and Laxus had left, and things were finally starting to become how they used to. It could never be the exact same though. Grey stripped less, Erza became quicker to temper. Everyone else were in similar states. To name a few; Levy seemed to read twice as much as before, as if trying to read for herself and Lucy. Cana drank less, which was probably a good thing. Happy didn't seem to tease as much either. But the one who was hurt the most had to Natsu. Natsu wouldn't get in fights with Grey as much anymore. Not just with Grey though, the pink haired teen seemed to fight almost half-heartedly in any occasion that violence erupted. Even when Grimoire Heart had interrupted the S-Class exam.

As Makarov finished his thoughts, he noticed that his comm lacrima was flashing red, warning him that Laxus was calling. The old wizard smirked, then placed an enchantment over the room, making the office soundproof. Makarov then answered the incoming call.

Laxus was the first to speak up, "Finally old man. Do you have any idea how many times I've tried calling you?"

Makarov merely snorted at his grandson, "What could make you, of all people, to try to call me so many times?"

Laxus looked down at the ground, a grim expression on his face, "Lucy was hurt. She's unconscious."

Makarov squinted at the picture of the younger man, trying to find out if he was lying. When the old mage decided that the younger wasn't, he asked menacingly, "What did you do?"

"N-nothing! Well, actually, I should say I don't know if it was me." When Makarov only gave Laxus another penetrating glare, the young mage told his story. "I was in a cave by our camp, training. With a... with a thunder dragon."

Laxus's grandfather gave him a look of shock. He was completely flabbergasted. Laxus, amused by the look, continued on. "I was training with her for about two weeks. But Lucy followed me today, and as she was watching me battle with the dragon, she was hit by a bolt of electricity. I don't know if it was from me or the dragon, but what shocked me more than her being there was the fact that she was only knocked unconscious and suffered from minor burns. Not to mention that she had no defense against the attack like she would in battle."

If it was possible to be even more shocked than Makarov already was, he would've shown it. He was utterly confused by what was going on. Was Lucy involved with something grander than he could imagine? Or was she progressing in her training at a faster pace than he expected? The powerful mage hoped for the latter.

Makarov's thoughts were interrupted when Laxus spoke out again. "Lucy should be awake and fine in the next few days. After that, we'll head out to our next destination." Laxus then added as an after thought, "And gramps? We should be coming back sooner than expected. Lucy and I talked about it a few nights training will take up about half the time than expected. So we should be coming back in about two years."

Makarov quickly came over his surprise at the news and started to jump, whoop, and holler. The old man calmed himself long enough to say goodbye to Laxus and end the call. Excitedly, he took down the enchantment on the room. Eager to spread the good news, Makarov sprinted out of his office to his usual seat on the railing.

Makarov shut the guild up in record time, "Hey! Shut up you brats! I got some good news to share!"

At their masters announcement, the guild became quiet. All eyed were on the small man above them.

Makarov shouted out again, joy filling his voice. "Just now, I received a message from Laxus. He and our precious Lucy will be returning much sooner than expected!" Smiles started to dawn on the faces of the guild members. "Instead of taking six years like originally planned, our two companions have decided to return home after three! Our precious family members will return to us three years sooner than expected. They shall return in two years time!"

The ending of his speech was drowned out by the cheers and happy sobs from the Fairy Tail members. Each one yelling out their approval. That night, everyone returned to their old selves. That night, the Fairy Tail guild partied until the light of dawn appeared over the horizon. And all except a select few were passed out drunk


	6. Chapter 6: Diamond Roses

Chapter 6: Diamond Roses

Lucy slowly opened her eyes. After a few moments, the world seemed to set in on her. There was a slight pain throughout her body. She felt herself bandaged in numerous areas. She was in the same clothes as before, but why didn't she remember anything?

Hoping to ask Laxus, Lucy sat up, groaning in the process. The blond's groans attracted the attention of the only other person in the room. In an instant, Laxus was at her side, gently pushing Lucy back down.

A look of worry was in his eyes, but also relief. His big, blue, beautiful eyes. _Wait, beautiful eyes?_ Lucy looked down at her bandaged hands in embarrassment, her face dusted pink.

Laxus then spoke up, concern in voice, "How're you feeling Lucy?"

Lucy looked up into the blue eyes she was admiring only moments before, then answered, "I-I'm fine. What happened to me?"

Laxus explained what had happened before with a look of guilt, "You followed me to my training grounds. You watched me battle the thunder dragon, Lei-zi. During the fight, you got hit with a stray attack." Laxus paused momentarily, looking away guiltily, "I brought you back here and cared for you while you were out. You've been unconscious for almost three days."

Lucy was starting to remember now, the gravity of things settling in. "Oh, well if that's all, then- Wait! What!" Lucy shot up. Dizziness quickly took over her, so she propped herself up with one of her arms. After a few moments, the dizziness went away, so Lucy looked over to the other blond.

Laxus only nodded, answering her unasked question. A look of worry masked his face.

After a few moments of silence, Lucy spoke up again, "Laxus, why didn't you tell me? I thought we could trust each other. I thought we were closer than that" Lucy had said that last part weakly. Laxus looked hurt, making Lucy want to apologize, but she needed to know this. She couldn't be weak now.

Laxus then spoke up, hurt filling his voice, "Lucy, you can trust me. I-I just didn't want you to get hurt." Laxus looked down at the ground, tears filling his eyes.

The urge to apologize became even stronger as Lucy saw the tears start to appear. Oh, how badly she wanted to apologize, but again she told herself she had to be strong. "Laxus. I understand you wanted to protect me, but... but you didn't have to keep secrets from me. It really hurts when you lie and deceive me like that. How do I know I can trust you?"

Laxus looked up at the other blond, the tears had broken free at her harsh words. The need to apologize became unbearable at the sight. Lucy had opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped. The look Laxus wore changed, he was determined. Determined to do what, Lucy didn't know, so she only stared at her traveling companion.

Laxus leaned closer, their faces only inches apart. The handsome blond softly whispered, "This is how."

Laxus shut his eyes as he closed the gap between their lips. Laxus kissed Lucy passionately. At first Lucy was shocked and confused, but the smart girl finally figured out why she had felt fear while following Laxus. She was scared for him, terrified of what he was secretly doing. At this realization, she kissed him back, joy and pleasure taking control of their bodies.

∆**POV**

Laxus heard Lucy wake up, groaning. He spun around to see her trying to sit up. Laxus ran over to her, appearing by her side in a flash. Lucy looked at him, at first with a look of relief, but then confusion. She looked down at her hands, pink shading her beautiful face.

_Beautiful face? What am I thinking?_

Laxus looked back to the other girl, her face was still pink. Concerned she might be coming down with fever, he asked, "How're you feeling Lucy?"

She looked up at him and answered, "I-I'm fine. What happened to me?"

Laxus looked at the other blond. He felt guilty for what happened to her. Doing the only thing he could think of, he explained the story, "You followed me to my training grounds. You watched me battle the thunder dragon, Lei-zi. During the fight, you got hit with a stray attack." Laxus stopped his explanation and looked away, telling her the story ate him away with guilt.

_But she deserves to know._

Looking back at Lucy, I continued, "I brought you back here and cared for you while you were out. You've been unconscious for almost three days."

Lucy seemed oddly calm. After a few seconds passed in silence, she spoke up again. "Oh, well if that's all then- Wait! What!"

Lucy sat up then, but faltered for a few moments. Laxus raised his hands cautiously, not sure what to do. But soon, she seemed alright. When Lucy looked at him, the only thing Laxus could do was nod. He was still worried about the small teen.

The silence continued, but eventually Lucy spoke up again, "Laxus, why didn't you tell me? I thought we could trust each other. I thought we were closer than that"

Lucy's words were true, and that had hurt him deeply. He hadn't liked keeping his training a secret from her, but Lucy's safety was always on his mind when he left either cave.

Laxus answered Lucy, his pain filling his voice, "Lucy, you can trust me. I-I just didn't want you to get hurt." The guilt eating at him again, the thunder mage looked down at the ground in shame. He could feel tears coming to his eyes.

Lucy spoke up again, and what she said broke his heart, "Laxus. I understand you wanted to protect me, but... but you didn't have to keep secrets from me. It really hurts when you lie and deceive me like that. How do I know I can trust you?"

Laxus looked up at her. He could feel the tears cascading down his face now. She was right, how could she trust him again. The guilt came back yet again, unbearably stronger than ever before. That's when the idea came to Laxus. Determined to make it count, he brushed the tears from his face and leaned forward until his lips were inches apart from hers.

Still determined, Laxus whispered to the other, "This is how."

Laxus then closed the distance between the two, closing his eyes to make sure it would add to the effect.

As Laxus kissed Lucy, the warm feeling from before returned. And he finally knew what it was. It was love. He was in love with Lucy. And when Lucy returned the kiss, he knew that she loved him to.

∆**POV**

As the two kissed each other, a joyful glow radiated from them. Slowly, diamond started to rise from stone around them. The diamond changed shape, forming vines. These rock vines grew thorns and buds. And as these buds began to bloom, Laxus and Lucy broke the kiss. And as they opened their eyes, they saw the circle of flowers around them. They saw the diamond roses bloom.

Touched by the scene, the two new lovers smiled at each other, and kissed yet again.

Time passed, and Laxus and Lucy broke away from each other. Though they didn't want to, the duo knew that they needed to start packing for their departure. During the time they packed, each one repeatedly walked to the circle of diamond roses, trying to think of what to do with it. Neither knew, so they simply continued to pack.

That night, the two were almost done packing. All that was left was the beds and food. Those would be put away in the morning. That night, the lovers slept with each. taking comfort in the warmth of the other, and enjoying being able to be so close.

∆**POV**

For some reason, Natsu felt a strange feeling inside the pit of his stomach. He didn't know what it was, but it made him feel dirty. It made him feel tainted. It made him want something with his heart and soul. But he didn't know what it was he wanted either. He would ask Lisanna in the morning.

Thinking of Lisanna made Natsu smile, even with the feeling in his stomach. They had found her in Edolos when they were sucked there through Ani-whatever. Natsu didn't care how they had found, only that she was with them again. Everyone had celebrated when she returned. And then, when they started to go out, everyone congratulated the two.

Lucy popped into his head at the thought of everybody. That was right, she hadn't met Lisanna yet. Natsu smiled to himself, even though he missed Lucy, he couldn't wait for her to return. To return from her training with Laxus.

The evil feeling in his stomach flared at the thought of Lucy and Laxus together. He became even more confused by the feeling now. Why would he feel like that? It wasn't as if Lucy and Laxus liked each other. Or even... or even love each other. Natsu shuddered at the though of the two together.

But yet again, the unknown feeling flared up even more. Confusing Natsu to no end. He would definitely need to talk to Lisanna about it the tomorrow.

**Author's Note- **I myself really like this chapter. A lot more than the last one. I could've made the last one so much better. But I was panicking because I was reaching the one week deadline. Well, anyhow, hope you guys like the chapter :


	7. Chapter 7: Returning Home

Chapter 7: Returning Home

**~About 2 Years Later~**

Lucy looked up at the building in front of her. It was brand new to her. She had left while it was still under construction. She was eager to go in, but she was even more nervous. Unknowingly, the blond started to twist the ringer on her right hand. She looked down at the ground, trying to overcome this nervousness. When a hand appeared on her shoulder, however, wearing the same ring as her, Lucy looked up to see Laxus next to her, smiling at her happily.

"Don't worry. I'm with you." Laxus said, giving simple but meaningful words of encouragement. These words were more than enough for Lucy. As long as she had Laxus, she was happy.

Nodding to the blond man, she looked back to the building in front of, a small amount of fear returning. But with Laxus holding her hand, she walked through the entrance of the building. Through the entrance of Fairy Tail.

As the duo entered the guild building, Lucy felt a strange feeling on her hand. When she glanced to see why, she saw that her mark was reappearing. Lucy smiled then looked back up. The members of the guild were as loud and violent as before, but only a few had seen the two come in.

Lucy and Laxus started for the bar. Heads started to turn and gasps of surprise were being emitted at the sight of the two. The farther the two walked, their hands still interlocked, the more the guild started up into an uproar. When the two blonds finally reached the bar, all the guild members were crowded behind though, Lucy didn't see any of her old teammates there.

_They must be on a mission._

Lucy was slightly disappointed that they weren't here to greet them. But Laxus and Lucy hadn't called ahead, so it was understandable. The two looked up at their master, Mirajane directly behind him. Tears could be seen falling from her eyes. Both of the white haired mage's hands covered her mouth, trying to muffle the sobs being let out.

Makarov was the first to speak to Lucy and Laxus,even with a simple acknowledgment, "You're back."

Lucy and Laxus both simultaneously answered, "Yes."

At the voice of the two, Makarov's head shot up from the paper he was reading. When he saw the two, tears started to well within his eyes. After he hiccuped a few times, he spoke again. "Y-you're back. I-I-I-"

No longer able to keep even a shred of calmness, the old man jumped at the blond mages. Tears cascaded down his cheeks as he hung from the necks of Laxus and Lucy. Laxus and Lucy grinned widely and hugged the old mage back. As Makarov looked up at the faces of the two, he was shocked to disbelief. The grin on Laxus's face surprised him and the rest of the guild. They hadn't seen him grin like that in years.

After a while, Makarov released himself from the young duo. Back on the floor, he tried to look more like he had before. He didn't do a good job. Realizing it would take to long, he gave up and looked across all the people in front of him.

"Hey, you brats! Moments ago, our beloved family members Lucy and Laxus had returned to us. It's time to celebrate!"

At that last word, the doors to the guild opened up with a loud slam. Everyone looked away from Lucy, Laxus, and the master to see who it was. Five figures walked towards them. Four were people and the other was a cat. All five wore looks of confusion as they saw everyone in a crowd around the bar.

After walking a few steps forward, one of the five yelled out. "Hey! Why is everyone at the bar? Is it a surprise for us?" After a few more steps, Lucy was able to see who they were. It was her old team, and another girl. The girl had short white hair, the same shade as Mirajane and Elfman.

The one who had yelled out was Natsu. To answer Natsu's question. The guild members parted, allowing the new arrivals to see Lucy and Laxus. At the sight of the two, tears instantly started to fall from their faces. From all five except the white haired girl, she still wore her look of confusion.

Natsu, Happy, Erza and Grey all yelled out, "Lucy!" then started to run forward. Natsu was reached them first. Not stopping, he jumped onto Lucy, hugging her. The force of the jump pushed Lucy backward, breaking her grip from Laxus's hand. The two fell onto the ground with a loud thud. With her eyes closed, Lucy opened her mouth to moan out in pain, but was unable to. As soon as she opened her mouth, She felt something touch her lips. The blond opened her eyes in shock as she looked to see what it was.

When she saw what it was, she tried with all her strength to get up, but Natsu kept her down. He, obviously, had trained during the past three years as well. Lucy continued to struggle against the pink haired idiot, but was set free when Natsu was blown off be a blot of electricity. Natsu slammed into the wall, then fell to the floor. The unknown white haired girl ran over to him, screaming out Natsu's name.

She helped pick him up, then the two glared over at the one who had attacked him. Laxus. All the other guild members looked at Laxus as well. He however, was helping Lucy up. She was looking at Laxus as well, mumbling her thanks.

When she was back on her feet, Laxus asked her with worry, "Are you okay? Do you want to sit down?"

Lucy only looked up at Laxus as she mumbled, "I'm fine. Thank you."

Everyone's attention was torn away from the blond mages as Natsu yelled out, "What the hell was that about? You don't attack nakama just like that, Laxus!"

Laxus glared at Natsu as he yelled back, "You kissed my wife! How do you think I would react?"

At his exclamation, the guild went into an uproar. Each and every person screamed out their surprise and shock.

"What!" Grey simply yelled.

"You're married!" Levy screamed.

Natsu screamed out in his very simple minded nature, "Eh!"

The yelling continued on as more obnoxious sayings were thrown out. Lucy quickly got annoyed, and uncharacteristically shouted out, "Shut up! All of you!"

The guild went quiet immediately. Even though it had been three years since they had seen their blond family member, everyone knew how terrifying Lucy could be if she wanted to. Lucy spoke up again, loud enough for all to hear, "Yes! Laxus and I are married, if you have a problem with that..." Lucy continued being uncharacteristic by cracking her knuckles, "well, you can take that up with me."

Laxus smirked as he walked up to Lucy and gently turned her around to face him. He then said, "What is it about your dark side that's almost as attractive as your caring one?" Laxus then leaned down, and Lucy, returning to her usual cheerful self, happily kissed back with a passion.

Using this as a confirmation that the two weren't playing tricks on them, the other members of the guild started to whisper among themselves. Natsu, who was standing next to the wall with the unknown girl, merely stared at the two in shock. The fire mage felt a huge pain in his chest where his heart should be. And that evil feeling he only knew to much these past few years returned, nearly killing him from the inside out.

The whispering continued until Makarov shouted out, "Quiet! All of you!" The whispering stopped all together, so the Fairy Tail master continued. He was looking down at the couple before him, who now had their arms around the other. "I speak for the entire guild when I say we will all fully support this surprising union between the two of you.

Lucy and Laxus both gave a toothy smile to Makarov. The guild couldn't help but give almost exact smiles at the happiness between the unexpected couple. All the members of the guild sped off in preparation for the biggest party they would ever have. All except Natsu and the white haired girl. The girl looked at Natsu with worry, but Natsu only stood there in shock. The unknown feeling and pain eating him up.

Lucy, Laxus, or Makarov helped prepare either, but instead went to the master's office to discus important topics. Inside the white office, the three members talked with each other.

Makarov asked his first question, "So, how did your training go?"

Both Laxus and Lucy were surprised that he hadn't asked a question on their marriage. Lucy answered the question quickly after their reaction, however, "It went really well. I was able to obtain the rest of the zodiac keys, as well as two other keys from groups even more rare than the zodiacs. I'm able to summon three spirits at once now too, and I've improved physically now as well. I am able to use a wider variety of magic and weapons, also."

After Lucy finished her explanation, Laxus told about his training, "As you know, I became a third generation dragon slayer two years ago. After that, Lucy taught me the basics of Celestial Magic, but I'm only able to summon one Zodiac Spirit. After that, I'm not able to summon any more spirits for a while, I don't know why that is, even though I still have plenty of magic afterwords.

"Shortly after I mastered thunder magic from a man named Zeus. Then about a year ago, I was able to learn three Amaterasu formulas."

Makarov only nodded, he had suspected the two would progress around that much. He could feel the aura they gave off during the escapade with Natsu. Moving away from that topic, he then asked, "Where will you two live? Lucy, I know your apartment isn't big enough for both of you."

Lucy and Laxus looked at each other for a moment, then back to Makarov. Laxus spoke up again, "We planned on finding a house in town to live together in. We thought we would move everything from Lucy's apartment there, as well as move my things from my room at Fairy Hills."

Makarov only nodded, then continued on, "Alright. Here's what I want you to do. I would like you both to finish moving within the next three weeks. I know that's not very much time, but it's okay if you don't. The reason why is the S-Class exam is in three weeks, and I want both of you participating in it. Laxus, you and the other S-Class mages will act as obstacles, as is tradition. Lucy, I want you to take the exam. It's obvious how powerful you've become, but I think this will be the perfect way for you to show us your new powers."

As Makarov finished his long winded speech, Laxus and Lucy processed everything he said. Finding a house a house in three weeks would be a problem. Moving their stuff was a simple task, however, for they could have some other guild members help. And, both of them thought the plan with the exam would be a good way to show the guild just how much they changed.

Lucy and Laxus nodded again, but Lucy asked a question of her own, "I'm fine with the plan and everything. But I'd like to know who the S-Class mages are in the guild. I know that Laxus and Erza are, but who else is?"

Makarov looked at Lucy, a smile on his face, "I'm glad you asked. Well, the year you left, Mirajane recovered her powers. I will explain how later. That same year, during the exam, Cana became S-Class. But unfortunately after that, no one could pass the exam. The intelligence challenges are to much for the guild members. New members have joined the guild during your absence, and I will be having them compete this year."

Lucy nodded for what seemed the hundredth time that day. During the next hour, Makarov shared what happened to the guild after Lucy and Laxus left. Shock, fear and laughter took root in the Lucy as the stories were told


	8. Chapter 8: Party!

Chapter 8: Party!

Lucy and Laxus walked out of Makarov's office and downstairs. There they were met by almost the entire female population of Fairy Tail. Each one asking questions on the relationship between the two. Laxus quickly walked off, blushing. Lucy merely sweat dropped as her husband walked off. He liked to have people's attention, just not personal questions like these. Unfortunately, after only a few yards, he was swarmed by almost every man in the guild. They were asking questions on the relationship as well.

Lucy turned her attention back to her own crowd, trying to hear some of the questions. Sadly, there were to many at once. Lucy just held her hands up defensively.

"Um... well... you see... if you all could... one at a time!" Lucy shouted. All the girls went quiet. A light shade of pink dusted her face, "Um... sorry. It was just a little overwhelming. I'll answer all of your questions, but please, please, let it be one at a time." Lucy begged, even amusing herself a bit. She and the rest of the group laughed then went off to sit at one of the larger tables.

(Just to let you all know, as far as I can remember the amount of known women at Fairy Tail aren't very many. I think only about 15, including Charle and OVA characters)

There wasn't any tables big enough for all of them, so they merely pushed some together. There, questions started to be asked.

Levy was the first to ask, "Okay, when did you two become an item?" The rest of the girls nodded furiously in agreement.

Lucy thought for a moment. She looked up at the ceiling, pouted her lips, and placed her index finger on her pouted lips. The blond then looked back down and scanned all the girls around her, deciding how to put it just right.

"Let's see. I guess we became a couple about a year after I left. Laxus had met me at the train station here by the way, I had fallen asleep waiting for the train." Lucy rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. The other girls erupted into a roar of laughter, but quickly silenced when they saw Lucy continue. "We were in the mountain range near the west coast. I had gotten injured when I had secretly followed Laxus to this cave he was training in. I hadn't known he was training, so I was worried that he could be getting into trouble.

"But when I found him in the cave, I accidentally got hit by a stray attack. I was unconscious, I think three days, after that. During those three days, Laxus nursed me back to health. I already had strong feelings for him before that, I just didn't know I that yet. When I had awoken, he was instantly beside me. His face showed relief, but in his eyes held guilt. And then when I was asking how I could trust him again, he kissed me. And i knew right then that I loved him, and that he loved me."

All of the women at the table emitted a very loud, "Aaawww" (Sorry, didn't know how to spell that.)

Lucy blushed, and then asked, "Okay, who wants to ask next?"

Evergreen, surprisingly, shot her hand up as soon as Lucy finished. She shouted out, "Me!" The others giggled, but Evergreen could tell they were ready to do the same, so she continued. "What was your first date like?"

Lucy turned a deep red and was stuttering, but still answered. "W-well, o-our first d-date w-was..." Lucy trailed off as she tried to calm herself. When she had, the blond continued, "Our first date was... well let's say a bit of an adventure. We had left the mountain range about a week before, so we were currently in the forest near it. We had found the most gorgeous lake and decided to have a picnic. Little did we know that the lake had a very jealous spirit trapped inside.

"We had just gotten everything we would need unpacked when the spirit attacked. First it swept all of our food away, and then it started to attack me. Laxus tried electrocuting it... that only made it worse. After some time, we were able to bargain with it. We free it and it stops attacking us. That was much easier said than done. But we were able to eventually free the spirit. After that we just walked away. We laughed about it for almost two weeks afterwords. Though I don't know why I think it's so funny."

Another girl shot her hand up. She seemed to be about fifteen and had long blue hair. Lucy looked at the blue haired girl and smiled, then said, "Y'know, I don't think we've met yet. Or... you... and you." Lucy pointed the mysterious white haired girl from earlier and another blue haired girl. Both smiled back to her.

Mirajane spoke up, introducing the two. She started with the younger blue haired one "This little girl is Wendy. She's a sky dragon slayer." Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, Wendy blushed at the sight. Mirjane continued on to the other blue haired girl, "This is Juvia, a water mage, and has a little action going on with Grey at the moment. I thought you two already met?"

"Juvia? I didn't even recognize you! You really changed!" Lucy exclaimed.

Juvia blushed as well, then apologized, "Juvia is sorry for what happened three years ago. Juvia hopes Juvia and Lucy can still be good friends." Lucy nodded eagerly in response, causing the water mage to blush even deeper and put on a small smile.

Again Mirajane continued, "And the best of all is my little sister Lisanna. She uses takeover like me and Elfman. She's going out with Natsu right now."

Lucy smiled at Lisanna, but when she didn't smile back, the blond said reassuringly, "Don't worry. As far as I'm concerned, Natsu is all yours. Laxus will always be my man."

At this, Lisanna's attitude brightened exponentially. Lucy giggled at the change in attitude, then looked back to Wendy, "What was your question Wendy?"

Wendy hesitated momentarily as the rest of the group stared at her, but spoke up after a few awkward seconds passed, "W-when did Laxus propose to you?"

The group tore their attention away from Wendy and back to Lucy, who started telling her next story, "Let's see here. Laxus proposed about three months after our first kiss. It was so sweet how he did too. We had gone to Oshibana for a small break. One night, we went to one of the restaurants there. It was a dinner and show place, and the show that night was Laxus. Laxus had sang right before his proposal, and oh! He was just amazing! The next day, we decided to have a very small, personal wedding since we knew if we went public, you guys would know. We wanted it to be a surprise for everyone."

Erza asked the next question, oddly out of character for her, "What does your ring look like? Is it gold? Silver? What kind of gems are on it?"

Lucy giggled at Erza's great interest. Lucy held up her left hand to show off the ring, "The ring is entirely diamond. The story behind it is so amazing. Okay, so after our first kiss, we had opened our eyes to see roses vines in full bloom circling around us. And it was entirely made out of diamond. Apparently there were two circlets instead of one like I originally thought. During the night after, while we were sleeping together, Laxus used shrink magic, I guess, to make them the size of rings. When I saw these I cried my heart out. It was just so romantic."

All the girls, even Erza, teared up at the story. Each one saying things like, "How romantic!". What Bisca had said, however, was actually somewhat amusing, "I wish Alzack would hurry up and propose."

After a few more minutes of chatting, Erza asked Lucy, "So do you think we could hear Laxus perform that song?" The rest of the group yelled out their agreement, eagerly anting to here Laxus sing.

"Well I can't make any promises, but if we can save him from the boys, he might be willing to."

The ladies cheered, then went off to hunt down Laxus. He wasn't hard to find, but hard to get to. He was surrounded by a swarm of men, each one cheering for someone. Apparently Laxus was in a battle with someone. The girls didn't even need to ask for the men to move, for when they saw the group coming, they eagerly got out of the way.

Laxus was battling a man with piercings and long black hair. Lucy slightly went pale at the sight of him. It was Gajeel. The memory of what he did to her came back to Lucy, but she quickly comforted when Levy placed her hand on Lucy's arm.

"Don't worry about Gajeel, Lu-chan. He's a really good guy."

Lucy gave a weak smile to her best friend, "I'm sure it'll be hard, but I'll try to get used to him."

Levy smiled and hugged Lucy, "Thanks Lu-chan!"

Lucy gave Levy a suspicious look, raising a single eyebrow. _Well that was unexpected. Do I sense a relationship blooming?_ Moving the question to the back of her mind for later, Lucy looked back to the fight. Laxus was, in a way, beating the snot out of Gajeel.

Disappointingly, the fight was over quicker than Lucy had hoped. She had already known Laxus would win, that much was obvious, she just thought Gajeel would put up more of a fight.

As the men of Fairy Tail cheered, Lucy walked over to her husband. He was standing a bit of a ways away, smirking. When she saw the smirk he was wearing, the blond girl sweat dropped. There were some things that would never go away.

When she reached Laxus, Lucy got up on her toes and whispered into his ear, "Hey, the other girls want to hear you sing the song from your proposal. I know that it's a really personal request, and since it would be you singing, I thought you should decide."

Laxus looked at his wife and sighed as he looked at the floor. He was defeated before she even came over to him, but he would still get something out of it, "Alright. But you need to sing after me, and I want your permission to beat the crap out of anybody that laughs at me."

Now it was Lucy's turn to sigh in defeat. There was no way to have Laxus drop the exceptions. There's no way to completely be rid of a man's pride, apparently. Sighing again, Lucy whispered back, "As long as they don't need extensive surgery. We're on a very slim budget."

Laxus frowned slightly at his wife's limitation. The blond man walked over to the stage, his shoulders slumped. On the way he whispered to himself under his breath, "Sure, take all the fun out of it. Oh well, I guess she has a point."

Now on the stage, the proud man composed himself. When he shouted in the mike for everyone to shut up, an innumerable amount of faces stared up at him. Laxus lowered his voice now that he had everyone's attention.

He then spoke into the mike again, "By request of Lucy, my wife," Laxus shot a glare in Natsu's direction, "I will be performing a song." When the blond saw amused faces on some of the Fairy Tail men, Laxus shouted again, "And anyone who even attempts to emit a soft chuckle will be sent to the guild infirmary by myself personally."

At the threat, the amused faces were quickly swiped away and replaced with ones of pure terror. At the change of mood, Laxus nodded. The music soon began playing from the magic music box.

(Song and artist- If I Had You by Adam Lambert)

_*So I got my boots on, got the right 'mount of leather_

_And I'm doin' me up with a black colored liner_

_And I'm workin' my strut, but I know it don't matter_

_All we need in this world is some love_

_There's a thin line_

_Between the dark side and the light side, baby tonight_

_It's a struggle, gotta rumble, tryin' to find it_

_But if I had you_

_That would be the only thing I'd ever need_

_Yeah, if I'd had you_

_Then money fame and fortune never could compete_

_If I had you, life would be a party it's be a party it'd be ecstasy_

_Yeah, if I had you, y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-you_

_If I had you_

_From New York to L.A._

_Gettin' high, rock and rollin, get a room, trash it up_

_Till it's ten in the mornin'_

_Girls in stripper heels, boys rollin' in Maserali's_

_What they need in this world is some love_

_There's a thin line, 'tween a wild time, and a flat-line, baby tonight_

_It's a struggle, gotta rumble, tryin' to find it_

_But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need_

_Yeah, if I had you, then money, fame, and fortune never could compete_

_If I had you, life would be a party, it's be ecstasy_

_Yeah, if I had you, y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-you_

_If I had-_

_The flashing of the lights, it might feel so good_

_But I have you stuck on my mind_

_The fashion and the stage, it might get me high_

_But it don't make me sing tonight_

_That'd be the only thing I'd ever need_

_If I had you, the money fame and fortune never could compete_

_If I had you, life would be a party, it's be ecstasy_

_If I had you, y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-you_

_If I had you_

_That would be the only thing I'd ever need_

_Yeah, if I had you, the money, fame, and fortune never could compete_

_If I had you, life would be a party, it'd be ecstasy_

_It'd be ecstasy with you y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-you_

_If I had you*_

Surprisingly, all the members in the guild cheered ecstatically. Not so surprisingly, Natsu didn't. He merely sat in his chair, glaring at Laxus the entire time. Laxus stepped off the stage to be met by Lucy. The blond girl had her hand out, waiting for the microphone.

"Here you go." Laxus mumbled. He did not enjoy that experience one bit. Lucy only smiled and said back, "Thanks!"

In response, Laxus merely waved his hand in the air, as if saying what ever. Lucy giggled, she loved her husband. Turning away from him, Lucy walked up onto the stage and started speaking to the guild.

"Wow, wasn't he amazing! How about another round of applause!" The building was filled with clapping. Lucy nearly dropped when one of the girls in the crowd squealed. _Looks like your getting a fan base, Laxus._

Lucy started to talk into the microphone again, "Okay, now it's my turn to perform." The crowd went quiet, the memory of Lucy's last performance returned to their minds. "And don't worry, I won't sneak away for three years when I'm done." A huge sigh of relief was heard from the crowd.

As if in response, music started to play.

(Song and artist- Holding Out for a Hero by Frou Frou)

_*__Where have all the good men gone?_

_And where are all the gods?_

_Where's the street-wise Hercules?_

_To fight the rising odds?_

_Isn't there a white knight?_

_Upon a fiery steed?_

_Late at night I toss and turn,_

_And dream of what I need._

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night,_

_He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,_

_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight,_

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,_

_He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon,_

_And he's gotta be larger than life._

_Somewhere after midnight,_

_In my wildest fantasy,_

_Somewhere just beyond my reach,_

_There's someone reaching back for me,_

_Racing on the thunder, rising with the heat,_

_It's gonna take a superman,_

_To sweep me off my feet._

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night,_

_He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,_

_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight,_

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,_

_He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon,_

_And he's gotta be larger than life. (larger than life)_

_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above,_

_Out where the lightning splits the sea,_

_I would swear that there's someone somewhere, watching me,_

_Through the wind and the chill and the rain,_

_And the storm and the flood,_

_I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood._

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night,_

_He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,_

_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight,_

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,_

_He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon,_

_And he's gotta be larger than life._

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night,_

_He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,_

_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight,_

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,_

_He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon,_

_And he's gotta be larger than life. (larger than life)*_

Lucy then stepped off the stage and over to Laxus. The cheers of the crowd still going. That was when the party truly started. Everyone danced and drank, and of course have a few more battles. It wasn't till about midnight that, Lucy and Laxus at the hotel they would stay at for the night.

"That was a lot of fun." Lucy stated, changing into her night ware.

Laxus was already in bed, shirtless and in only boxers. The man replied, "Parties aren't really my thing."

Lucy smiled brightly at her husband while she climbed into their bed, "I know and I'm glad you were able to hold up through out the whole thing. Thank you." As Lucy finished, the two shared a deep passionate kiss.

Both then retired for the night, exhausted by the party. Neither knew about the pink haired dragon slayer staring at them through the window.

**Author's Note-** Don't know how I really feel about this chapter. It's not my favorite. Pretty much a filler chapter I guess, but I needed to get it out of the way. Btw, I just found the second song's lyrics online, that's why its different then the first. And yes, I know Adam Lambert sounds nothing like Laxus, I chose that song because the lyrics were like perfect. I also know that one line in his song I have wrong, I know the real line, but I like the one I put better... so yeah. Sorry, tired and in a bad mood... venting I guess


	9. Chapter 9: Anniversary

Chapter 9: Anniversary

Lucy woke up to the soft sound of snoring next to her. Knowing that it was only her husband, Laxus. Lucy laid there in the bed for a few more moments. Finally, she rose up, flung her legs around to hang off the edge, and stood up. The blond walked over to the curtains and slowly opened them.

As she did this, grumbling could be heard from the bed. Laxus was starting to wake up. He would eventually become fully awake, knowing this, Lucy walked into the bathroom and prepared for the day ahead. She unpacked her bag with make up, and started a bath.

When the bathtub was filled nearly to the brink of spilling over, Lucy stopped the flow of water and gently stepped in. She had just completely submerged herself, leaving only the top of her shoulders, neck and head when Laxus barged in, naked. Lucy emitted a small giggle at the sight, and then another when Laxus stepped into the bath along with her.

Laxus smirked at his wife as he questioned her, "Do you know what today is?"

Lucy smiled warmly as Laxus moved to be up against her, "Today? Do you really need to ask? It's our anniversary!"

Laxus smiled then as well, just as large as Lucy's. The married couple started to cuddle at the happy memories. Soon after, however, they took their enjoyment a few steps further. To a step young children and those weak of heart should not witness.

(I'm trying to keep this story rated T, so I will NOT be describing this experience, thank you)

It wasn't until nearly two hours later that the married couple finished their escapade of love. Not long after they started, the two had moved from the bathroom to the bedroom, so when they had finished they moved to the bathroom yet again, only this time to clean themselves off.

Not long after, they went out to find a small diner to eat at for breakfast, for it was still only ten thirty. The city had practically stayed the same while they were gone, so the couple found a diner not to far away that they both enjoy. They had a simple breakfast, seeing as they were still on a budget, and of course they had small chatter and planning.

"Does master really expect us to find a decent house already?" Lucy asked.

Laxus responded after wiping his mouth, "Well, he said it was alright if we don't find anything. But I was thinking, why don't we just search for a house we like and buy it after the exam? We have three weeks, that gives us plenty of time to do a well paying mission or two."

Lucy nodded during the man's explanation. Thinking it through. Seeing as it was pretty full proof, Lucy remembered something from the night before.

Deciding to share the memory, Lucy spoke up, "Last night, during the party, Master told me about how my father sent me birthday money while we were gone. Apparently my message to him really sank in. He said he'd give me the money today, and that there was about three million jewels." Lucy said that last part like it was nothing.

Laxus on the other hand, nearly choked on the coffee he was drinking, "Three million? That's not a birthday present! That's an inheritance!"

Lucy chuckled at her husband's reaction. Even though Laxus was used to living with luxuries, he never had that much money just lying around. Lucy continued on however, "But we need to pay the guild back for keeping up with my apartment's rent. After paying them back, we would still have about a hundred and sixty thousand jewels left."

Laxus nearly chocked on his coffee yet again. He hadn't realized they had built up such a large amount of debt to the guild. But they would be able to pay it back. Luckily S-Class mages didn't need to pay the rent at Fairy Hills. Lucy and Laxus both had a lot of stuff, though, so they would either need a bigger house or a storage unit. Unfortunately, Magnolia didn't have storage warehouses, so they would need a bigger house.

The two put aside the problem for later. It was their anniversary, and they would enjoy it. The two blonds stood up, payed the bill, and were off to the guild. They arrived fairly soon. When they opened the doors, they were swarmed by reporters.

∆**POV**

It was Laxus's turn to remember the night before, there he was told by someone that today Weekly Sorcerer would be arriving. It was obvious now that he and Lucy would be the cover. Laxus sighed in defeat, they were getting to much attention for his preferences. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his chin and brought his face down to theirs.

Before he could even register who it was, he felt soft lips touch his lightly, toying him. Laxus recognized those lips, after two years of kissing them, he knew they were Lucy's. Quickly figuring out her plan, he played along. Creating a fake kiss wasn't good enough for either of the blonds though, and both quickly dove into a real kiss, one with their love behind it.

For the next hour, Weekly Sorcerer interviewed the couple. Wanting to know about their training. Apparently they hadn't known about the marriage, so the kiss they had at the beginning gave that away. When it was finally over, the married mages were sitting at the bar exhausted, the reporters interviewing Lucy's old team mates now.

The blond took this chance to talk with Laxus, "We just can't win, can we? I'm sorry we've been getting so much attention, I'm sure it bothers you." She said this with deep concern in her voice. She wanted her husband to be happy.

Laxus sighed and laid his head on it's side, resting on his arms. Weakly, he mumbled, "It's okay. We should've seen it coming." Laxus sighed again, then continued on, "It would have been so much better if it hadn't been today of all days, but I guess all the fussing is almost over. Mira, can I have something for headache? My head is killing me." Laxus asked Mira, who was standing a few feet away. The other S-Class mage nodded and went off to find some medicine.

Lucy stood up, and patted Laxus's back as she walked past. "You stay and rest. I'll go talk with master." Laxus moved his head, as if nodding. Taking that as so, Lucy walked off to find the powerful mage.

Lucy was back in a few minutes. Laxus had taken the medicine Mira gave him, and the two were off. They would search for a house until later, that would be when they would go to dinner for their anniversary.

**...**

Lucy and Laxus were now standing in front of one of Magnolia's nicest restaurants. With their money problem, the two normally wouldn't even think about eating at place so fancy... or expensive. But it was their anniversary, so they would enjoy themselves.

The two were about to walk in when someone called to them from behind. Laxus looked to see another couple walking up to them, Lisanna and Natsu. Lisanna was waving to them, a wide smile on her face. Natsu, on the other hand, was glaring at him, loudly grumbling.

Lucy waved back. When the other two had walked up to them, she said, "What are you two doing here? A date, I presume?" The blond mage winked at Lisanna.

The other girl giggled, her hand covering her mouth. "Yep! What about you two?"

"It's our anniversary," Lucy smiled.

Lisanna just blushed, finding out that she interrupted something so important. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt, if I had known-"

"No no, it's fine. Um... Laxus, Natsu. What are you doing?" Both of the two girls were now staring at the two men.

While the girls had been civilized, Natsu and Laxus had been arguing loudly. Laxus was now preparing send a lightning bolt Natsu's way. Natsu was preparing to attack with an enflamed fist.

Laxus was the first to answer, "He kept saying you were his, Lucy. Then he said a man who sings isn't a real man, and because of that I don't deserve to have you."

Natsu screeched out, "What! I never said Lucy was mine!"

Laxus glared at the fire mage, yelling now, "Yes you did! You kept saying 'my Lucy'!"

Lisanna gasped, tears starting to fall down her face. She looked at Natsu pleadingly, hoping that it was just a misunderstanding. "Please tell me that's not true, Natsu! Please tell me Laxus just heard you wrong!"

Natsu called over to Lisanna, never taking his eyes away from Laxus. Both still readying their attacks if necessary. "It's not true Lisanna. You're my girlfriend, not Lucy."

Lisanna sighed out in relief. Lucy finally spoke up again, in commanding voice, "Laxus, Natsu, calm down. We're here for dinner, not destroy each other." Lucy was pretty sure that if that last part happened, Laxus would pulverize Natsu. But she didn't know how much he had improved over the last few years, so Lucy tried to keep herself from simply cheering her husband on.

The electricity quickly dispersed as Laxus stopped his attack. Natsu, however, took this as a chance to prove his point and continue on with his attack. Not even in a blink of an eye, a curved blade was lightly touching the front of Natsu's neck. At the sight, Natsu stopped himself. He could hear a small gasp emit from Lisanna.

Behind him, he heard Lucy say, "I don't recommend that."

Laxus sighed now, only in disbelief, "You really brought Midnight Reaper?"

As quickly as it appeared, the blade disappeared. Natsu stood where he was, actually scared for his life. Lucy walked around the frightened male and up to her husband.

Lucy answered her husband after waving goodbye to Lisanna and started pulling him to the entrance of the restaurant , "Well, with our luck, I thought we might need something. Midnight Reaper was the easiest to conceal, so..."

Laxus merely nodded. Now that the action was over, the rest of the night rolled smoothly, and was mostly uneventful. The food was delicious and actually not as expensive as they thought it would be. Apparently the manager of the place had found out about their leaving years ago and had constantly fantasized about the two getting together. When they had told her that they were on their anniversary, the manage nearly squealed. She offered them a free dessert for the couple to share and a thirty percent discount. Lucy and Laxus both tried to decline the offer, but the woman wouldn't take no for an answer.

After dinner, the two visited the guild again. Laxus started to become more comfortable around the guys of the guild, and started telling stories about his adventures. Both before and during the training. Lucy had girl talk with Mira and a few others, describing the dinner. Lucy even performed a few more songs.

It was about nine when Lisanna approached Lucy at one of the numerous tables. "Hey, Lisanna, how'd your date go?"

At the question, Lisanna broke out into tears. Guild members turned to see what was going on. Lucy didn't pay attention to them, however, and merely hugged the other girl comfortingly. Not saying a word, Lucy allowed her to continue sobbing, allowing all the sadness to come out.

It took a few moments, but Lisanna was eventually able to compose herself. Still sniffling, though, the girl explained what happened. "Oh Lucy! We were only there for five minutes. He said he was only going to the bathroom, but he never came back!" Lisanna broke out into tears again. Lucy acted as she had before, remaining silent and allowing Lisanna to finish. "Am I... am I really that bad? I-I mean... we-we were only there for f-five minutes!"

That was when Lucy finally spoke up, sternly but caring as well, "Lisanna, stop talking like that. I may have only met you yesterday, but I can already tell that you are a strong, loving person. One who cares about her family more than anything else."

Lisanna sniffed again, rubbing one of her eyes, "R-really?"

Lucy nodded, "Really. And if Natsu can't figure that out, if he doesn't realize just how good of a person you are, than he doesn't deserve you. Because you don't deserve to be treated like that."

Lisanna looked at Lucy with shocked eyes, bewildered by what her new friend said, "B-but I love him, Lucy! Ever since we were little!"

Lucy's face became soft, her voice followed, "I'm sure you did. And I'm sure he loved you, too. But something about him has changed. It's your life, Lisanna, don't waste it by waiting for Natsu to get his figured out."

Lisanna nodded, slowly taking in what Lucy said, "M-maybe you're right. Maybe I just need to move on."

Lucy smiled, "That's right. You don't need that jerk."

It was Lisanna's turn to smile now. Her spirits rising from the pep talk, "You're right. And someone who leaves just like that isn't the one for me."

Lucy continued to smile, "And remember, love can be discovered in the most unexpected of places. It sprouts and grows like a flower. It has different names, homes, and forms. It could be someone from the guild, or maybe it couldn't. It's you that decides who is right or wrong."

Lisanna hugged Lucy, and Lucy hugged back, happy to be of help. They stayed this way for a few more seconds until Lisanna sat down in the chair next to the one Lucy was sitting in before hand.

Lucy sat back down and Lisanna asked, "Lucy, how did you fall in love with Laxus?"

Lucy pouted her lips, deep in thought for how to explain it just right. When she thought she had it, Lucy explained, "Love is a gradual thing, Lisanna. When Laxus and I first met, we didn't like each other at all. To me, he seemed like an arrogant jerk. To him, I probably seemed like a pathetic wimp who would give up after a few days. But when we got on the train, we had decided to get to know each other, figuring it would be easier to know about the other sooner than later.

"That was when we found out we actually had a lot in common. We liked the same kind of music and food, for instance. But we also had things we didn't have in common. Like our philosophies, his was about how strength is all that really matters and mine about friends and family being the most important. As time went on, however, we proved the other's first impression to be wrong.

"I had never asked about the reasoning behind the different types of training I had to go through. I never gave up on anything, I always kept going until I couldn't anymore. And Laxus was more caring than I had originally thought. Yes, he was cocky, but he cared about others. When we would come across someone in need, he would help them and ask for only a small amount of money, only enough for us to get enough food until the next town.

"We also shared interest in the other's type of magic. At first I didn't know the reasoning behind him learning about Celestial Magic, but later I found out it was the same as mine. We wanted to know how to protect the other from their weaknesses. We wanted to be able to help the other more efficiently in times of need.

"As time went on, I began to notice the smaller things. He takes comfort in simply being in a quiet place where he can remember the past, or think about the future. The appreciation he holds for things normal people take for granted. It was thanks to realizing these small things that I found the real Laxus. He was still arrogant and cocky, but nearly as much as he lets on, he is constantly thinking about his friends and family. You wouldn't believe how much he talked about the Thunder God Tribe or how thankful he was to them."

As Lucy finished he long winded story, Lisanna nodded, "I-I think I understand."

Lucy sighed, then started talking again, "What I'm trying to say, Lisanna, is that Laxus and I fell in love the same as all other couples. We found out about what we had in common. We learned about the other's personality, what they liked and disliked, and cared about how the other was doing. We discovered things about the other that only those willing to find out, those who took the time to truly learn about the other, discover. That is how I fell in love with Laxus, by caring about him more than about myself."

Lucy a deep breath, than heard someone from behind her say, "It's the same about how I fell in love with Lucy."

Both women looked behind them to see Laxus sitting at the table next to theirs. Lucy motioned for him to sit next to her. Laxus did as his wife wished and sat next to her. Both now looked at Lisanna, waiting for what she would say.

Lucy smiled, tears coming to her eyes, "Th-thank you for telling me. It really helped a lot." Lisanna then stood up before going on, "I'm going to go talk with Mira-nee, see if she can help me talk with Natsu about it. Thanks again!" Lisanna then went off, in search for her sister.

Lucy stood up and called back after her, "If you need my help with him too, just ask!" The blond then faced her husband, who was now standing next to her, "Ready to go?"

Laxus nodded, and the two were off. Tomorrow they would start searching for a house. A man watched the two from the shadows of the guild, he followed them to their hotel. The whole night he watched them, his pink hair flapping in the wind


	10. Chapter 10: Chosen

Chapter 10: Chosen

The weeks passed. The joys of being reunited never going away, but returning the guild to what they once were. The day after the Lucy's conversation with Lisanna, she and Laxus became their own team, to Team Natsu's dismay, of course. Grey, Erza, Lisanna, and even Happy were understanding, however, and didn't put up a very big fight. Natsu, on the other hand, was so upset that he and Laxus nearly destroyed the guild fighting over the matter. Laxus had the upper hand the entire time, but Natsu never gave up, causing Erza to knock him out when he wasn't looking.

Unfortunately for Natsu, the next day Lisanna broke up with him. A week later, another member joined the guild the relationship between him and Lisanna bloomed almost instantly. His name was Styxx Rivier, and he uses shape shift magic.

A few days later, Lucy and Laxus found a house in the city they both liked. The only problem was, it cost five hundred thousand jewels. Because it was over three times more than the amount they had, the married couple went off on a high paying S-Class mission for a few days. The guild was head over heels worried that they wouldn't return, but to their shock, the two came back after a few days with only a scraped knee on Lucy. Amusingly, she had tripped over her own two feet on their way back.

After that, the guild was how it normally was. Fights broke out, dirty jokes were told, and obnoxiousness took root. Today was the day master Makarov would announce who was going to be in the exam. All the members of Fairy Tail were crowded in front of the bar, eagerly waiting. Finally, after continuous complaints about the waiting, the master came out of his office.

The powerful mage took his usual seat on the railing and then started his speech. "My children, the time has come yet again for the S-Class Exam. Similar to only three ears ago, the exam shall take place on Tenrou Jima Isaland. The current S-Class mages members shall be obstacles in the path of the chosen eight. Behold, your S-Class mages."

At this, the S-Class mages walked up to stand beside their master. There was Erza, Mirajane, Cana, and Laxus. There was also one other man, and from what Lucy could tell, he was most likely Gildarts. She had head stories about him from Laxus on their travels.

Makarov continued with his speech as all the S-Class mages were now beside him. "I shall now announce those participating in the exam." The master paused for a moment to look out among the members before him. "Evergreen! Juvia Lockser! Grey Fullbuster! Natsu Dragneel! Wendy Marvel! Gajeel Redfox! Freed Justine! And Lucy Dreyar!"

As each name was called out, the said person would walk up to stand up on the second level as well, grins bearing their faces. Evergreen had been smirking the entire time. Juvia had only gone red in the face, as did Wendy, blushes burning the two mages face's. Grey had hugged Juvia when he reached the top, quickly following up with a kiss on the lips, earning the two an uproar of hoots and hollers. Shockingly, Natsu was silent the entire time, a look of deep thought masking him. Gajeel had yelled out inappropriate phrases of excitement. Lisanna had simply shouted out her approval with a classic "Yes!".

When Lucy's name was called, everyone was silent for moment, forgetting that her name had changed. But when she started ascending the staircase, the guild realized who had been announced and started cheering, even louder than when Grey and Juvia had kissed. The blond blushed at the excitement and silently walked up the stairs only to be greeted by Laxus, his arms opened wide. Lucy hugged her husband as the two shared a kiss as well.

Makarov continued on with the announcement, ignoring the different actions going on going on behind his back. "Tomorrow, we shall set sail to our prestigious Tenrou Jima, prepare yourselves. I shall explain the format of the exam once we set sail." With that, the old mage walked back into his office, an uncommon look of seriousness on his face.

The guild partied for the next few hours, celebrating those being in the exam. While those who would be participating left early, planning on getting a good rest, the others partied on through the night.

**...**

Lucy was enjoying the warmth of the sun as she basked in it's rays. A smell met her nose, so the celestial mage turned to see the huge pile of dishes beside her. She along with all the other exam participators were relaxing on the deck of the boat they were taking to Tenrou Jima. Laxus was arguing with some of the other participants, being his old, cocky, self. Some things about him would never go away, and his cockiness about battles and power was one of those things.

Lucy sighed at the sight. Returning to her relaxation. That relaxation, however, did not last, for moments later the urge to throw up came to her. Running to the side of the boat, the blond quickly deposited her breakfast into the vast ocean. Wiping the vile from her mouth, Lucy walked back to her chair, returning yet again to her relaxation.

Sadly, that attempt was also interrupted, for Makarov started up on another announcement. Sighing yet again, Lucy walked over to the group of guild members. When she reached them, the blond listened intently to what he was saying.

"The rules are simple. The first portion of the exam will test your physical strength. It is very similar to the exam from a few years ago. There are eight paths, five of which will soon be guarded by an S-Class mage. Each participant must take their own route and not be joined by another. Two of these routes will lead one of you to battle another participant. The last leads to the meeting area, with no obstacles in the way."

Grey spoke up, confusion shown on his face and in his voice, "Isn't that almost exactly like a few years ago? The only that's different is the fact that Cana's an S-Class this time."

All the guild members nodded their heads and murmured their agreements. Lucy just stood there, slightly confused. So the exam is like one from a few years ago? Why would he do that?

Makarov continued on with his announcement, answering Grey's question. "This year, the participants will not have partners, as you already know, from the very beginning. This year, if a contestant comes across an S-Class mage, and defeats them, the S-Class mage will help said contestant with the second task in the exam."

A few moments later, the ship stopped. Lucy looked around, confused. _Why did they stop in the middle of the ocean? I guess this means it's starting._ The other members had thoughts similar, for everyone was rushing to the sides of the boat. And all of them ran into a wall of runes.

∆**POV**

Makarov watched on as his children attempted to make their way past the purple runes. Chuckling softly, he heard them yell out their protests. Freed had set up the runes for everyone to be trapped for a few minutes, allowing them to get ahead. Evergreen, however, had easily rewritten the runes, leaving the others on the boat. Makarov watched, counting which ones were here and which had found a way to escape.

Grey, Natsu, Gajeel, Juvia, and Wendy could be found. The five were staring up at something. Following their gazes, what the old man saw left him flabbergasted. Lucy was floating in mid-air, right outside the runes, and she was slightly transparent. The blond was sticking her tongue out at the others, teasing them.

Grey and the others were shouting out questions and protests. Lucy merely shrugged her shoulders and flew off towards the island. Leaving the uncountable pile of questions behind.

∆**POV**

Lucy was laughing hysterically while flying towards Tenrou Jima. The looks on her guild mates faces were priceless. The shock when they saw her floating right outside the runes. And that she was transparent. The look just cracked her up. It wasn't hard to change into this spirit form, and it didn't take up very much magic either.

It was a spell only accessible to the strongest of Celestial Mages. Lucy, obviously, was the strongest, seeing as she had such a strong arsenal of spirits in her possession. She had all of the Zodiac Spirits, five silver keys, and two element keys. It was safe to say she was the strongest. It was all thanks to that trip with Laxus, too.

So much good came out of that trip, but so did a lot of negativity. And all that negativity was focused around a certain pink haired dragon slayer. Why was Natsu acting so strange? Whenever Laxus was around, he acted like a jealous five year old. But when her husband wasn't around, he acted just like his old self. Lucy would have to talk with the others about this later.

With that decision made, Lucy noticed that she would need to land soon. Carrying through with the observation, Lucy landed next to a pillar of smoke, assuming this was where she was supposed to go. When Lucy landed, her assumptions were proven correct, for there were eight passages. Two of which were already blocked off.

Seeing no reason to pick a particular passage, Lucy chose the nearest passage. It went up the side of a large hill. It took a few minutes, but Lucy was able to make it to a plateau of sorts. It looked down on the entrances of the other passages. The blond giggled at the sight. The members that were trapped on the ship had finally made it to the island, and were apparently fighting over who takes which passage.

Lucy couldn't tell who was fighting from this distance, but she was sure that it was Grey, Natsu, and Gajeel. Sighing at their immaturity, Lucy turned back around. When she had, she instantly regretted it. In front of her was who she would be battling.

"Hey." The man said. "So you're the one I'm battling, huh? I haven't heard what kind of mage you are, yet, so this will be interesting." The man took a battle stance, preparing for the battle. His orange hair flat against his head.

Lucy took her own stance. Even if she was battling him, she would give it her all. She would not show fear.

"Come at me," The blond proclaimed, staring the man down. "Gildarts."

**Author's Note- **Sorry this isn't the best chapter. School is hectic, I'm using that as my excuse. I barely made the deadline for the chapter, so I was rushing to get it done last night and this morning. I'll try to get the next chapter out by next Saturday.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	11. Chapter 11: The Spirit VS The SS

Chapter 11: The Spirit VS The SS

_What was her name? Apparently she's popular in the guild. Let's see, blond hair, brown eyes. Was it Lani? Lulu? Lexi? I know she's the one married to Laxus. _Gildarts thought as he watched the blond girl look down at the entrances.

Apparently done with looking at whatever it was she was looking at, the girl sighed and turned around. When she saw him, the blond went slightly paler. Her eyes filled with surprise.

Now that she knew he was here, Gildarts spoke up. "Hey. So you're the one I'm battling, huh? I haven't heard what kind of magic you use, yet, so this will be interesting." The old mage took his battle stance. It was his duty to test this youngster, no matter how cute she was. _Why did she have to be married, I could'a used the old Gildarts charm on her._

Some of the color returned to Lucy as she took her battle stance. Determination was shining in her eyes. Hints of a smirk were starting to make their way to her lips.

Speaking up, Lucy proclaimed, "Come at me, Gildarts."

Smirking himself, Gildarts launched himself at the girl. He balled his hand into a fist, readying a punch. Gildarts' cloak flapped wildly behind him as he flew towards his target. Lucy, however, didn't even make a move of dodging. Instead, she grabbed his fist as it approached her face and flipped him over her body. Doing this caused the orange haired man to fly off the small plateau, free falling down the hill side.

He reached out instinctively with his metal hand, and grabbed a rock jutting out of the hill. Then, in one swift motion, launched himself back up to the plateau. Lucy was apparently waiting for him, her hands on hips in an impatient manner.

Frowning, Lucy said, "I really thought that wouldn't have worked. You must be pathetic to fall for that. And after all I've heard of you, you're just-"

Lucy was unable to finish her insult for Gildarts launched himself at her again. Lucy jumped into the air and flipped over the old man, landing a few feet behind him. Once, she had landed, the blond continued, "-an old man who thinks he can keep up."

It was Gildarts turn to frown now, distaste and disapproval in his voice, "You should really respect your elders, miss. That smart mouth of yours could be the end of you."

In response, Lucy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. Glidarts anger flared at this. Normally he had a good control over his anger, but his one pet peeve was a disrespectful child. Failing to hold back his anger, Gildarts bit his lower lip, trying hard from unleashing his full power. _Isn't she supposed to be really nice and respectful? Why so different then what the others say? _But when Lucy let out a smirk, the old man lost it. Flying towards the girl, he unleashed his crash magic. A white explosion appeared where the girl used to stand.

Gildarts quickly jumped away from the white light as it faded away. In it's place was a large crater. Reality quickly set in on the old mage as he realized what he just did. Panicking, Gildarts held his head as he quickly looked back and forth. His knees were bent and eyes wide open. _Shit! I'm dead when the guild finds out! Shit! Shit! Shit!_

If possible, Gildarts eyes would have widened even more when the shadow of something passed over his eyes. Confused, the orange haired man looked up only to be blinded by the sun. Holding his organic hand over his eyes and squinting at the same time, Gildarts continued to watch. Suddenly, a form started to appear directly under the sun. The form greatly grew larger within the next second and Gildarts was finally able to make it out.

What Gildarts saw made his demeanor do a one-eighty. His eyes changed into the form of hearts, a small trickle of blood spurted from his nose. The old man's jaw hung wide open, drool flowing from it. Perverted and inappropriate thoughts rushed through his orange haired head. The falling form was Lucy, dropping from high in the sky, a war cry escaping her lips. When he had first looked, Gildarts started to get a good view of Lucy's panties.

Gildarts was unable to continue his perverted reverie for two seconds later Lucy's combat boots made their home in his face. The strength of the kick forced the old mage to the ground, a small crater of his own created. Nimbly, Lucy backflipped away from the struck down mage.

After such a hit to the face, Gildarts struggled to get up. His breaths were ragged, coming in short, interrupted bursts. Bruises covered his face and neck. One of Gildarts eyes were tightly shut, helping him endure the pain. After some time, the old mage was finally able to get onto his knees, the farthest he could go.

Refusing to give up, Gildarts explained, "Normally, I would let you pass through, but I want to see your magic in action. So come at me." Gildarts planted a weak smirk on his face as reassurance.

Lucy had other plans, apparently. Her face was slightly green. Falling to her knees, the contents of Lucy's stomach began to hurl themselves out of her body. A small pool of vomit started to form. The smell was strong, even reaching Gildarts.

This action confused Gildarts yet again. What was with this girl? Testily, the old mage stepped closer to the upchucking girl until he was right next to her. There, he gently laid his metal hand on her shoulder. Lucy slightly turned her head to look at him, and after a few moments, stood up, clutching her abdomen.

"Th-thank you for waiting on me." The blond mumbled, a small blush creeping onto her face.

Chuckling slightly, Gildarts gave the young woman a smile. "Anything for a guild member, no matter how rude they are." That last part he added with a bit of edge in his voice.

The blush on Lucy's face deepened at his words. Fumbling with her hands, the woman looked down towards her feet. She whispered her response, barely audible enough for Gildarts to hear. "S-sorry." Finding confidence from an unknown source, the blonde started to speak louder, "I-I've been having mood swings the last few days."

Gildarts gave her a knowing nod. Woman troubles. He knew enough about them from his various affairs. Sighing loudly, the mage said, "Well, let's continue. I still need to know what kind of magic you use."

Determination filled Lucy's eyes as she nodded vigorously. Realization covered her face then, before taking a battle stance. To Gildarts shock, a large black and white scythe appeared in her hands almost instantly.

A smirk was on the woman's face, "Sorry Gildarts, but I can't reveal everything just yet. For now, this is all your getting." And with that, Lucy rushed the old mage.

It was all a blur to Gildarts. One moment she was employing a simple frontal assault, the next he was on the ground. His metal limbs were laying a few feet away, out of his reach. The mage felt something slowly lift him up. It was Lucy. He was riding her piggy back style.

Lucy turned her head slightly, flashing a dazzling smile. "Well, I guess I win! I'll help you get to the group camp."

Gildarts, dazed from the multiple falls simply said, "Uh, yeah sure."

Lucy stopped for a few moments. Gildarts metal limbs started to glow a faint yellow as they began to hover in mid air. Lucy abruptly started walking again, the floating arm and leg following them through the air.

Perplexed by this, Gildarts asked the small woman, "H-How are you doing that?"

Smiling again, Lucy explained while continuing to walk on, "I'm a Celestial Wizard. As you probably know, Celestial Mages make contracts with Celestial Spirits. But at a caliber as advanced as my own, I can make contracts with the spirits of objects. You see, all things have a spirit, a soul, even inanimate objects like metal. Depending on the relationship with the object, the contract can be permanent or temporary, as well as define the limits of the contract.

"I've made a temporary contract with your metal limbs. The contract allows me to have them follow us until we make it to the camp. I have a permanent contract with my scythe, Midnight Reaper. I have a close relationship with my scythe which let me make a permanent contract with her. Only myself or those who I allow can wield her. Do you understand?"

Gildarts grunted in response. His consciousness was slowly slipping away from him. The past three years had been rough on him. His age was catching up with him. There was still a question he wanted answered before he welcomed the sleep.

Weakly, the old man asked, "So, is it a boy or a girl?"

**Author's Note- VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:** Sorry it's a short chapter. I was assigned a big video project for English, and I'll be working by myself on it, so I won't have time to write any chapters. Also, I'm helping a fellow fanfiction writer with their story (at least I think I am). For all those who are waiting for the sequel of A New Fairy Tale Begins, I'm going to have to push back the upload date for it. I know I said I would get it started before the end of March, but having the before said tasks along with this story and the writing contest entry I told you about at the end of N.F.T.B., I don't have anytime to write it. I have it planned out, just need to put it into words. So, so sorry.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	12. Chapter 12: Surprise!

**Author's Note-** SURPRISE! I was able to finish my video project a lot sooner than I expected, I guess being on your own instead of in a group has it's perks. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 12: Surprise!

Lucy froze up as the old mage asked that question. How did he know? Are the symptoms getting obvious? She had only told Laxus and Levy that she was pregnant. It was doubtful that either one told the others, not with the S-Class exam.

Lucy had found out she was pregnant about two weeks ago. She was sure it had happened when she and Laxus had that adventure on their anniversary. This was going to take some explaining. Lucy couldn't even imagine how Natsu would react when he found out. It would probably be him going on a rampage, trying to murder everyone like usual, just multiply the destruction by five.

Lucy never answered Gildarts question, and instead simply continued walking in silence. Not long after, he passed out. The blond could tell because his breathing became more rhythmic, more steady paced. Lucy sighed in relief when she noticed this. The battle had been tough on her.

Her back was badly burned from the magical attack Gilarts unleashed. Her ankles were swollen slightly from the drop onto her elder mage. Lucy's magical reserves were also significantly lower than she preferred as well. Right after she had revealed Midnight Reaper, Lucy had focused a great amount of magic in her legs. That had allowed her to move fast enough to take down Gildarts.

Lucy remembered having to use that on Natsu a few weeks ago, during her anniversary dinner with Laxus. She hadn't needed to use as much magic then, but the blond still remembered being winded afterwords. It's not a very pleasant experience after words, but it's worth it from time to time. Like right now.

Luckily, her training with Laxus made her physically stronger, so Lucy was able to carry Gildarts with only a small amount of trouble. The woman continued to trudge on for a few more minutes until she finally made it to the losers camp. She was expecting it to be bare. And it was, for a few moments. Just as Lucy was setting Gildarts down on the ground, Evergreen and Freed walked up to her.

Lucy didn't hear the two walk up, so she spun around in surprise when they greeted her. Freed was the first to speak, "Hello Lucy. It seems you... were...able to..." The script mage did not finish his sentence, for he was silenced by his shock at seeing Gildarts on the ground.

Evergreen spoke up next, her shock even greater than Lucy's, "L-Lucy! You beat Gildarts!"

Lucy nodded. SHe would have said something, but the moment after queasiness took over. Instantly going a few shades paler, crawled a few feet away before puking yet again. Freed and Evergreen rushed to the mage's side, confused by the sudden turn in health. Everyone continued in this pose for at least another minute until Lucy rolled onto her back, panting heavily. Worried looks covered the two Raijinshu members.

Lucy slowly propped herself up on her elbows, and then continued until she was sitting in one of the chairs placed in the camp. Still panting, Lucy muttered, "S-sorry about that."

Freed, still holding on to his worried look, asked, "Is something wrong Lucy? Do you not feel well?"

Evergreen still wore a look similar to Freed's, which was rare for her. She had spoken up next, "I don't think you should continue in the exam, Lucy. Fighting Gildarts must've taken almost everything out of you."

Lucy sighed in response and closed her eyes for a few moments. Thinking through her options, the blond decided just to explain to them what was going on. Reopening her eyes, Lucy looked up at the two mages.

"It wasn't the fight. His age is catching up with him now. If it had been a few years ago, he would've been much stronger. No, the truth is..." Lucy trailed off as she saw more mages start to come to the camp.

There was Grey and Juvia, holding hands with the each other and closer than most would think. And Wendy and Gajeel, they were talking with each other, most likely about their matches. Freed and Evergreen noticed Lucy's gaze fall on them, so they turned to see the four mages as well and were now waving to them. The four mages walked over to the group.

When they reached there, Grey spoke up first. "What! You guys are all out! That means only flame-brain is left! Great, just great!"

Evergeen turned her head, signaling them that he was wrong. "No, Lucy is still in the game."

Gajeel spoke up next, confused by the fact that Lucy won her match. "Who'd bunny-girl beat? You or the sissy boy over there?"

Wendy gasped at the sight of something. Everyone turned to look at the young mage, wondering what caused her to make the noise. The other three guild members that had come were shocked and made noises similar to hers. They were all looking at the still figure of Gildarts.

Wendy was barely able to speak as she squeaked out, "W-who... h-how... w-w..."

Freed spoke up now, a proud look on his face. "It was Lucy who defeated Gildarts." Suddenly, he and Evergreen bowed to the blond haired mage, "Just as we serve as Laxus' body guards, we shall serve you the same, Lucy."

Everyone ignored the spectacle Freed and Evergreen were giving and focused their attention onto Lucy. There was a moment of silence until one of the new comers finally spoke up.

Grey, in disbelief, asked, "I-is that true, Lucy? Did you really defeat Gildats?"

Lucy nodded weakly. She had just thrown up twice in the past fifteen minutes, and she wasn't in the mood to be questioned. Attempting to keep her emotions in check, Lucy explained the situation.

"Listen, a lot has happened over the past three years. I went through intense training, I learned forgotten Celestial Magic. I obtained new keys. I was married. But a lot has happened to you all as well. I'm sure you've all gotten stronger, just like me. We've all grown in there past few years. But so did Gildarts, just like the rest of Fairy Tail. He was one of the older members, and just like how I explained earlier, his age is catching up with him. Our generation is catching up with him."

The group of mages were quiet now. The silence continued on for a few more seconds. Everyone was thinking though what Lucy had said. This lull time was interrupted by the arrival of even more mages. This time it was the other S-Class mages. Greetings were exchanged and explanations given yet again.

After some time the mages were separated into two groups, Lucy and Laxus in one and all the others in the second. Lucy was still sitting in her chair, Laxus stood behind her. His hands placed on her shoulders reassuringly. In the second group, the men had been courteous and allowed the women to sit down while they stood.

Lucy sighed again, and took a look at her husband. In return, he whispered to the blond. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. They don't need to know."

Lucy whispered back, "I know, but they deserve to know. they would find out sooner or later anyways."

Laxus simply nodded, returning his gaze on the other members. Lucy did the same. They were about to attempt to attract the other group's attention when Gajeel did it for them.

"Hey! Bunny-girl! Whatta' you hidin' from us?" Gajeel glared at the couple, angry for being left out on something.

His outburst attracted the attention of the others, and that attention was now focused on the two blonds. Lucy sighed once more, then spoke.

"Everyone, there's something we need to tell you."

Erza squinted her eyes, suspicious of something. "If you two are leaving again, you can-"

Lucy hurriedly waved her hands in the air as she shook her head vigorously, an actin she instantly regretted, for her motion sickness returned.

The words spewed out of the blond's mouth as she defended herself, "What? N-no! Of course not!"

Cana spoke up now, "Then what is it Lucy?"

Mira spoke then, a worried look on her face. "Is something the matter?"

The rest of the members present murmured questions similar. They all quieted down, though, when Lucy began to speak again. Trembling slightly, the blond looked at the faces of her guild mates.

Quietly, Lucy stated, "N-never mind. You'll find out at the winners meeting spot."

Everyone was silent for a moment, then the area was filled with loud cheers and whoops. Hollers were mixed in along the way. The noise woke Gildarts, who was now joining in the excitement. It looked as if a party was about to start, but then everyone went still when Juvia asked Lucy a question.

The question was, "Juvia would like to know how Lucy was able to defeat Gildarts."

Silence ensued for a few seconds, the others wondering the same. Lucy attempted to speak, but was becoming very nauseous from the excitement. Laxus answered the question instead.

His tone mimicked how he felt. The thunder mage was annoyed and wanted the exam to move on. "You can find out after the exam." A few members opened their mouths to speak yet again, but were silenced by a glare from Laxus. "No more questions! The exam must continue!"

Before the others could speak, Laxus picked up Lucy bride style and swiftly strutted away. He was most likely heading to the winners meeting place. To where Natsu and Makarov waited. The rest of the group followed suit. Muttering about themselves and the battles just waged.

Evergreen had fought Erza in an epic battle, but was ultimately defeated when she was surrounded by about twenty of Erza's swords. Freed had fought Laxus, much to his dismay. He was defeated with a quick jolt of electricity for he had neglected to raise his sword against the thunder mage. Wendy had fought with Cana and almost won, but was tricked when the card mage acted seriously injured. Grey and Juvia had surrendered when they had discovered they would have to fight each other. Gajeel had fought with Mira, and had lost to the takeover mage's speed. The only ones left in the competition are Lucy and Natsu, who had taken the silent route. The one route with no battle.

Time passed, and the members eventually made it to the meeting place. Natsu and Makarov were already waiting there. Once everyone had settled, Makarov began his speech, telling about the battles that had ensued.

"I shall now announce the results of part one of the exam. Natsu had taken the silent route, path D. Gajeel had been defeated by Mira in route B. Wendy was defeated by Cana in route E. Freed was defeated by Laxus in route A. Evergreen was defeated by Erza in route F. Grey and Juvia surrendered their battle against each other in routes G and H. Finally, in a miraculous triumph, Lucy defeated... Gildarts?"

As he told out that last sentence, Makarov himself was left utterly confused. Natsu reacted in a way far worse. For some reason, his mood was dark, disturbing, almost evil. He started spewing insults towards Lucy. Claiming that she cheated. That someone like her would never be able to defeat a mage as powerful as Gildarts.

The guild members and master were shocked by this action. Most gasped, or made horrified looks at the accusations the fire mage spat. Laxus readily defended his wife the entire time, but it was Lucy that calmed him down.

"Natsu!" The blond yelled, gathering everyone's attention on herself. Lucy was glaring at Natsu, a look that far outmatched Erza's. Natsu quieted down, but it was obvious he was struggling to hold back the venomous words. Lucy took this chance and continued.

"Just because your love life is a total wreck doesn't mean you can be an asshole!It was your own doing that caused this. You were to dense to realize your feelings for me, and then were to obsessed with them when you did! I'm in love with Laxus, my husband, and Lisanna is going out with Styxx! If you had even a shred of self control, then you wouldn't be in such a pathetic state!"

The expressions of Lucy's guild mates varied. Laxus looked on her with pride, as did Master Makarov. The others nodded slightly, showing their approval. Natsu, however, stared at Lucy with shock. Speechless from the words she told.

"And there's nothing you can do to change that until you change yourself!" Lucy announced, still glaring at the pink haired man. "You'll never have me, Natsu! And you ruined your chances with Lisanna. She's moved on, as I did years ago. Now it's time for you to do the same, and realize you can't have everything you want!"

These words were like a sword to the heart for Natsu, for seconds later, the fire mage collapsed to his hands and knees. His head was bent down, blocking his face from the rest of the guild.

Everyone stayed like this for at least a full minute. Natsu on the ground, Lucy staring down upon him with her arms folded across her chest, and the guild members glancing between the two.

"You don't even want to think I cheated. I spent three years researching Celestial Magic and training my body. You should be shocked, possibly even a little scared, that I defeated Gildarts while being pregnant."

**Author's Note-** I'm pretty sure most of you expected Lucy being pregnant. I mean, it's not like I tried to hide it with the symptoms or anything. I had to look back to the anniversary chapter to make sure everything here involving that went right, and that was when I realized that I got no reviews for that chapter on the adventure between the two at the beginning. I had expected people to comment on that, but I'm guessing most people just put it aside like it wouldn't matter. Oh well, hope you guys liked the chapter! I tried to make it longer than the last few, but oh well


	13. Chapter 13: Script VS Scrap

Chapter 13:

As those last few words left Lucy's mouth, the blond instantly regretted it. She and Laxus had meant to keep it secret and surprise everyone, but that was out of the question now. It took a few seconds, but realization slowly settled in on the guild members.

Laxus simply smacked his forehead with his right hand. Gildarts nodded his head knowingly. The others were not as calm. Mira, Wendy, and surprisingly Erza, Juvia, and Evergreen, squealed in delight. The women jumped around excitedly, hugging each other and Lucy. Grey, Freed, and Gajeel all fell to the ground, quite literally. The bodies of the men going slightly paler, almost as if trying to go black and white. Their jaws hung down and their eyes as wide as the could go. Natsu shot his head up, still on all fours. Despair wrecked his face. Distraught sounds came from his lips.

This small party was stopped by Makarov, a stern face masking him. He was yelling for them all to shut up. They all followed his command. Now quiet, the young mages, and older, orange haired mage, looked at their master expectedly. The powerful man was looking directly at Lucy. Lucy quivered, ever so slightly, at the glare he was giving her.

When he spoke, disapproval etched itself into his voice. "Lucy, why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? I wouldn't have let you come if you had."

Lucy found determination from these words. The celestial mage used this determination to speak. "That's exactly why I didn't tell you. So that I could compete in the exam. If I'm going to be an S-Class mage, I need to prove it by passing the exam, just like the other members." Makarov nodded slowly, understanding where his child was coming from. Lucy took this as a reason to continue, "And it was you who suggested I compete. So that I could prove just how powerful I've become." The old mage didn't say anything. "I'm only a few weeks pregnant, so I'm deterred by only a small amount. And I'm already here, so I might as well continue."

Makarov sighed. The blond had bested him. She was entirely right. There was no point dragging the matter on any longer. "You have me there, Lucy. You shall continue on in the exam."

Lucy smiled at his decision. Natsu slowly stood up as the old man cleared his throat.

"Now, due to the happenings of the first half of the exam, I have decided to add another part for the eliminated. You six, the ones that have not passes in the first round, shall choose one other of the six, and battle them. If you win your battle, you will be allowed to again compete for the S-Class title. You have a few minutes to decide who to fight."

Those next few minutes flew by quickly as the six decided who to fight. When they had, Makarov spoke up yet again.

"Alright. One pair shall go at a time. The said pair will battle in route E, for it's battle area is the closest. When the battle is over, return here. When one pair arrives here, the next shall go. Those staying here shall watch the battle on magic projections. Now, who's going first?"

Gajeel and Freed took a step forward. The Fairy Tail master waved his hand, approving of the pair and allowing them to proceed. Route E was located with in a cave, so as the two entered the mouth of the underground tunnel, magical projections appeared. On these projections, an image of Freed and Gajeel was being shown. They were walking towards the battle field. At the sight, all the other mages took a sight to relax.

While they were waiting, Makarov told them that if they wanted to go to the springs to clean themselves and wash their injuries with herbs they could. The battles could be viewed there as well. He said that it could also be viewed at the loser's camp if they wanted to relax there or get something to eat.

Grey and Juvia started off for the springs, their arms interlocked. At the sight, noone else made a move in the same direction. The others instead aimed themselves for the loser's camp, hoping for a ho meal made by Mirajane. The only ones that remained at the meeting place was Lucy, Laxus, Evergreen, and Makarov. It wasn't long after until the battle begun.

**...**

Gajeel and Freed were now in their battle stances. The two mages eyed the other cautiously, sizing one another up. Both were waiting for the other to make the first move. But after only a few seconds, Gajeel, being his impatient self, launched an attack. His fist and arm changed to iron as his iron pillar attack rushed towards the green haired opponent.

Freed was hit by the attack right in the chest, sending him flying backwards. The script mage landed with loud thud as a small cloud of dust surrounded him. Not to be beat by a barbaric metal eater, Freed jumped to his feet and released his Dark Ecriture: Pain spell. The spell, being linked to it's target, was unable to be dodged. Gajeel, however, didn't know this, so by jumping into the air and then being hit by the attack, his body fell back to the ground.

Gajeel, relying heavily on instinct, jumped to his feet as well. But just as speed was his weakness against Erza, so was it against Freed. For the script mage had unleashed Dark Ecriture: Nightmare on the dragon slayer. While Gajeel was trapped within the nightmare, Freed took the chance to transform into his demon form. Thanks to this form, he was able to utilize his strength and deal major damage to the metal eater. The green haired demon was about to deal his final attack, an elbow to the back of the head, but was stopped by a hand catching his elbow. Slowly the hand turned to metal scales. Freed's eyes widened at the sight, a glimmer of fear evident in those widened orbs. Suddenly, the hand thrust forward, sending Freed up into the ceiling of the cave. Debris fell first, but the script mage soon followed.

Below, Gajeel was preparing his dragon's roar attack. At the sight, Freed prepared his own attack, Darkness Flare Bomb. The falling mage unleashed his attack as the dragon slayer released his own. The two mages were only feet apart when the two attacks met, a great explosion ripping through the battle field. Minutes passed but the smoke still didn't clear. All the members watched intensely. Waiting impatiently for the outcome. Yet still the smoke didn't clear. There was only one question, one that spread through all their minds. Who won?

Finally, the dust and smoke cleared. But neither of the two mages were there. In their place was a pile of rubble. As the camera closed in, the watchers gasped. An arm and a hand were the only things showing. The arm wore a red sleeve, the other donned a black glove.

A new question flew into the Fairy Tail minds, one that quickly overshadowed the old. Are they dead


	14. Chapter 14: Connection

Chapter 14: Connection

Mira was the first to reach the mountain of rubble. Tears were flying from her eyes as she furiously clawed at the stone. Screaming reassurances at herself, the takeover mage slowly released the green haired mage known as Freed. The green haired mage never moved once, not even a twitch of a finger. Hysteria was kicking in now as Mira began to activate Demon Soul. She was only able to stop when Freed's hand finally flickered, telling her that he was still alive.

The other members of Fairy Tail soon arrived to find the girl covered in dust as she dug through the rock and stone. Mira's hands were becoming bloody now, stones scattered everywhere around her. A crazed look was in her eyes. Elfman along with a few others tried to take her away, but their attempts were in vain for she would fight back with an almost murderous intent. So instead, they tried to help reduce the monstrosity of earth. Mira was only getting worse as she was now screaming at the others to speed up the work. But no matter how fast they clawed, rubble would quickly replace the little they had moved out of the way. It was hard to believe that Mira could get anymore vexed, but it was possible for she was preparing to unleash Demon Soul, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Mira turned her head to see a head of blonde hair.

Slowly, Lucy whispered encouraging words to the mage, "Mira, you need to stop. Do you think Freed would want you to hurt yourself for him?"

The question made Mira freeze, a medium size rock in her hands. Looking up at Lucy, eyes wide, she slowly shook her head. Smiling softly, Lucy continued.

"No, I didn't think so. Now why don't you have Wendy take a look at those hands of yours. I'll get them out for you."

Mira didn't move, however, but eyed Lucy suspiciously. Unable to control her panic and worry, the words left her mouth menacingly, " What could you do? You may have trained for three years but there's no way you're stronger than me."

Still smiling, Lucy understood the pain Mira felt. Gently tugging the white haired mage to her feet, the blonde guided her to the group.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine."

Lucy walked forward a few steps, safely away from her fellow mages.

Laxus, with a face revealing realization, yelled at his wife. "No! You can't use that spell! You know what will happen if you do!"

Lucy turned around slightly so that she could look at her husband.

"Their our friends, Laxus. We have to help them."

Laxus yelled again, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Even so! Their are other ways to get them out!"

Lucy smiled yet again before turning back around to face the rubble. Spreading her arms out wide, the celestial mage summoned a two golden magic circles, activating the spell. Lucy's body began to glow a faint yellow. Her body suddenly became translucent. The image of the blonde slowly began to fade away, while the images of two men began to flicker next to her. As Lucy's body faded out of existence, the bodies of both Gajeel and Freed came into it. Not long after, Lucy's form was gone, leaving behind both the dragon slayer and the script mage, their wounds gone. The two men slowly sat up. The mages of Fairy Tail surrounded them, happy that they were okay.

Only Laxus stood still, shock etched across his face. Suddenly, he bent forward slightly, his face looking down on the ground. Slowly, scale like etchings climbed his arms and across his entire body. His muscles grew and bulged as the markings continued to expand, as did his magical presence. The mages of Fairy Tail slowly backed away from him as they noticed his increase in magic. Makarov was about to ask the question everyone was thinking when he realized the meaning behind Laxus' actions, causing a new question to form.

He whispered the question, but still somehow everyone heard him, "Where's Lucy?"

As if answering the question, Laxus raised his left hand. His middle and index finger pointed upward, to the ceiling, while the other three fingers curled up against his palm. Laxus shouted out the name of the attack, his voice booming with the magical presence.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Supreme Thunder Crash!" Laxus flung his arm down as the last word left his mouth, the two fingers touching the ground while his right arm pointed behind him. Without warning, a multitude of large lightning bolts struck down onto the pile of rubble, breaking the caverns ceiling to reveal the blue sky and forest above. As each of the bolts of electricity shot down onto the rock and stone, the pile would shrink and slowly disappear until only a small amount remained.

In that small amount, a hand and leg could be seen. Laxus calmed down slightly at the sight, deactivating Dragon Force and running over to the pile. At that moment he resembled Mira from only a few moments ago, crazed with despair as stone and rock buried the one you love. The rest of Fairy Tail merely stood on the sidelines, confused by what was going on and what had happened moments before.

Laxus soon uncovered Lucy's face. Her breathing was ragged and shaky. She was pale and a cold sweat had broken out on her. Numerous cuts and bruises could be seen on her face alone, but as more of her body was unearthed, the knowledge in her condition did as well. It was like she had taken on the injuries of both Gajeel and Freed. It was as if she had changed the past so that she had been under the collapse and not the two men.

The only one that seemed to know what was going on was Laxus, but he was unable to talk for he was cradling Lucy's unconscious body to his, slowly rocking back and forth. What shocked the guild the most was what Laxus did next. He didn't attack the other members. He didn't verbally abuse them. He unleashed a heartbreaking scream, one that echoed in their minds. Sobs broke the never ending roar, tears not unnoticed.

The members were shocked by this show of emotion, frozen to their spots. Everyone had thought that Laxus had merely been infatuated with Lucy, attracted to her only because of her looks. That biased judgement was proven wrong.

The sobs of Laxus' slowly stopped as he stood up, hugging Lucy in his arms still. Slowly he partially turned to face the group of mages. A deep hatred was in his eyes. He glared at the different mages before yelling out knives to the heart.

"Why didn't you try to help her! Why didn't you try to help Lucy! Does she mean nothing to you! Does her life not matter as much as any other! Was it that you were hoping to have less competition in the exam! Isn't she 'nakama' too!"

No one spoke, no one moved. A menacing silence ruled the cavern. Though he was hesitant, Makarov spoke up, telling the best answer he could think of. "It's not that we don't love Lucy, or not want to have helped her, Laxus. We were just to confused about was going on."

Laxus' anger could almost be seen dripping off of his body. A deep throated growl emanated from him and echoed around. "Confused! Confused? You were to confused? That doesn't mean anything! You saw her body in the rubble, knew that at least someone was in there, and you did nothing to help! I'm stronger than you old man; so you better watch out, I might just come after you and you precious Fairy Tail."

And with that, Laxus turned himself and Lucy into a bolt of electricity and shot off to somewhere on the island. The threat had taken root in the minds of the mages of Fairy Tail. Only two people spoke, but only one person moved.

Natsu mumbled to himself so quietly not even Wendy and Gajeel could hear him. Luckily for them it was something they wouldn't want to hear. "Lucy, my precious, you shall be mine."

Makarov, meanwhile, fell to his knees as tears of his own began to fall. He was muttering something to himself. "I'm sorry Layla, I'm so sorry. I failed you."

**Author's Note- **Ugh, another short chapter! I'm sorry, I'm failing you guys. But you have to admit, that was a good one. My sequel to A New Fairy Tail Begins is out. It's called The Fairy Tale Continues, which I just realized is my fifth story ever, wow. It's a pleasure to serve you in some sort of entertaining way *bows like a butler*. Disclaimer: I do not own the attack "Supreme Thunder Crash"

Anyone that knows where that's from get's a thumbs up from me!

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	15. Chapter 15: Confrontation

Chapter 15: Confrontation

Laxus slowly set Lucy down on a pile of leaves. Disappointment filled his soul. Disappointment in the guild, in Lucy, and in himself. Those fools should've realized that she, or at least someone, was in the rubble after he used his dragon slayer magic. Lucy shouldn't have used those two spells in combination at a time like that. And he shouldn't have threatened them, they were clueless idiots after all.

Sighing, Laxus took one last glance at their surroundings before crawling into the hiding spot he found. Carefully pulling Lucy into it as well, Laxus gently set her down on another pile of green leaves. Th hiding spot was under an overgrown tree. It's roots had formed in such a way that an almost cage like room was made. The dirt underneath had been dug out by animals, leaving it hollow for a few feet down and across. There was just enough room for the Lucy to lay down and Laxus to crouch on his knees. This hiding spot was under a pear tree with white petals. The tree emitted a strong smell of fish. This was the perfect place for them. The smell would disorient the dragon slayers and being practically underground would make it impossible for those cats to find them by air.

Now that Laxus knew his wife was safe, he turned his attention toward her. Gently, the Laxus touched her for head, she was warmer than she should be, but was breaking out in a fever. Her cold sweat had stopped and her wounds were starting to heal, the bleeding having stopped. Normally, some one would freak out that her wounds were already healing, but Laxus knew that since Lucy used her magic to transfer the wounds to herself the injuries would heal magically as well. Laxus, now knowing as much as he could about Lucy's condition, sent a small waves of magic into his wife to aid the healing process. Even with his help, it would be at least a few hours until she awoke. She would have to rest afterwords, though. The blonde had used a large amount of magic to help Gajeel and Freed and was now using even more to heal her injuries, she would be totally spent for at least a day after resting.

Sighing again, the thunder mage changed to a more comfortable position, careful of hitting Lucy, then continued to watch the outside world. He would need to be prepared to run and, if needed, move the guild members to another area of the island. Time passed, an hour at most, and the guild members still hadn't come by. The chances were small, but Laxus couldn't hear any screams or shouts that signaled they were near by. Could it be they weren't looking for them? Were they just continuing with the exam? They knew he was with her so it was possible they wouldn't be coming after all. But they knew he had no healing supplies or the fact that he knew only the basics and was ignorant as to which plants would help.

Laxus sighed yet again. Thinking like that wouldn't do anything for Lucy. The thunder mage shook his head slightly, attempting to free himself from those thoughts, then continued to monitor the surrounding area, checking Lucy's condition every few minutes.

**...**

Natsu climbed up the tree easily. Once he reached the top, the fire mage whipped his head around, trying to find even a hint of vanilla strawberry, Lucy's scent. Finding none, Natsu jumped back down to the ground with a large thud. Normally, he would be riding Happy, but the exceed didn't want to go. He said Natsu was acting creepy and weird. The fire mage didn't care, as long as he got his Lucy away from that blonde bastard.

The pink haired man grumbled to himself as he went off on his own to find another tree to climb. He couldn't believe the others wouldn't help him find his Lucy. They all said she would be fine in that bastard's care and returned to the redemption battles. Juvia and Wendy's battle would be ending around then. It had been Grey versus Evergreen before that, with Grey the winner.

Natsu found another tall tree, and began to climb up. He occasionally lost his grip in the failing light from the falling sun. Sniffing and smelling for Lucy's scent the entire time, the fire mage growled when he caught onto the scent he was searching for.

**...**

Laxus turned back around to face the world outside the hideout. He had just finished telling the guild, through a thought projection, that he and Lucy were safe and would not be returning until she awoke and regained her strength. Laxus also said that once they returned to camp, he and Lucy would explain what had happened in the cave.

There was one worry, however, that had Laxus constantly thinking. Lucy was pregnant, and facing a traumatic event such as this while pregnancy could cause huge damage to the child, even if it was barely developed at the stage she was in. Polyusica would have to check up on her when they returned.

Sighing yet again, Laxus laid down, protectively hugging Lucy close to him like every night. Sleep slowly found it's way to his mind as darkness enclosed in. Unseen, Lucy's keys began to glow a warm, golden light.

**...**

Makarov looked on at his children, overcome with worry. Laxus was out there with Lucy, and Natsu was out there searching for her. Though Laxus gave him reassurances that they would be safe and hidden away from the dragon slayer, the fact that the fire mage was out there in his state of mind scared Makarov. Enough to know that they would have to find Natsu, and somehow convince him to stop looking. And if he didn't come peacefully, force would be the only option.

Makarov hopped up onto the table he was sitting at and cleared his throat. The Fairy Tail members looked away from there preparations, eager to hear the all clear. Makarov mentally prepared himself for the speech he would be giving. It would be one of the few times that he wouldn't be perverted or childish.

"Alright everyone. That pink haired idiot is out there searching for Laxus and Lucy. We all know that right now he's willing to do anything he can to separate the two. It's clear that by his recent actions over the past few weeks that Natsu might be willing to go so far as to use lethal action against Laxus. Lucy doesn't know how far this has gone, and since we all wish not to ruin the already strained relationship between the two, we shall be searching for him and bring him back here. Does everyone understand?"

No one spoke in answer, but merely started walking towards the dark forest. Makarov nodded at the sight, and began walking himself. Fireflies could be seen every once in a while, blinking in and out of existence. Just like the members of the guild, moon lilies were scattered along the path Makarov chose. All the members had taken their separate routes, few pairing with another, in order to cover more ground.

Natsu would be using his flames to see instead of relying on the moon and stars. This is what everyone would be looking for, a signal they were getting close.

**...**

Laxus awoke suddenly and took his position of looking out into the darkness of night. Sniffing, Laxus growled lowly. Natsu was out there, and coming closer with every second. The thunder mage crawled out the hideout quickly, and then gathered loose branches nearby. He needed to make it look like he was heading to a camp he made. Laxus didn't worry about Lucy's smell. It had been a few hours now since he had laid her in the hideout. that would mean she would be asked by the smell of dirt and a more nature-like scent.

In the distance, an orange light shone faintly, hidden behind a few plants and trees. Laxus slightly scowled at the sight. The idiot was using his fire magic in a forest as cramped as this! Now he really did need to teach the bastard a lesson.

Wiping the scowl from his face, Laxus slowly walked over to where he knew Natsu was, the timber that wouldn't be used cradled in his arms. It wasn't long until he arrived at the edge of the orange glow. Laxus was hiding behind one of the trees, but carefully moved so that he was peeking around it. His suspicions were confirmed at the sight of Natsu eating the leg of an animal that had to be from one of the smaller creatures that inhabited the island.

Laxus sniffed again and cursed to himself. Vanilla and strawberries, that was Lucy's favorite shampoo. It ended here at the camp, which meant Natsu knew Lucy was close. Laxus didn't want to leave Lucy while in this vulnerable state, but he needed to keep Natsu from getting to her.

Laxus looked back at the fire mage. He was so engrossed in his food that it was the perfect time to come into the camp, so that's what Laxus did. As the thunder mage rounded the tree, Natsu suddenly stopped eating and stared at the blonde man. Suddenly, Natsu's fist broke out into flames as the pink haired man rushed Laxus.

Laxus easily side stepped the attack then kneed Natsu in the stomach. The counter attack caused him to flinch, giving Laxus enough time to run in the opposite direction. Natsu predictably followed.

**Author's Note- **I'm so sorry this is so late. I could've sworn I had posted this chapter on the 8th, but then on the 10th I realized I hadn't even finished the chapter. So I tried working on it after that, but with exams coming up I haven't had time to write. I finally got the time this morning to write and took the chance to finish the chapter. I meant for it to be longer but the rest of my day is pretty packed so this is all I can do. I hope you all liked it.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	16. Chapter 16: The Plan

I need to warn you all now, this chapter is pretty much all a conversation between Lucy and Makarov about her magic. That's why it's almost all dialogue. Enjoy! :D

Chapter 16: The Plan

Lucy wok up silently, her head was pounding. She slowly sat up, or at least tried to until her head hit something. Lucy fell back onto her back in order to see what her head hit. It amazed her that it was tree.

_How long was I asleep?_

Looking around her, Lucy discovered that she was underground. Or at least under a tree that had it's roots raised high up out of the ground. Lucy crawled out from underneath the tree, careful not to hit her head. As soon as Lucy was fully out, she stretched her limbs as if her life depended on it while she basked in the morning sunlight. Lucy rubbed her neck uncomfortably.

_I've got such kink in my neck, ow._

Lucy tightened her neck, then turned her head sideways so that it was horizontal. There was a loud 'POP' sound. Lucy then turned her head the other way, receiving a similar sound.

_Ah, much better. Okay, now to know what happened._

Lucy walked up to the tree and gently placed her hand on it's trunk. There was a soft glow under her palm as Lucy activated her magic. Lucy's eyes were closed as she watched happen since she arrived there. Lucy had just gotten to the part where Laxus was talking to master through a thought projection when she was interrupted.

"Lucy!"

Lucy removed her hand to see Master Makarov standing there next to her. Wait, when did he get there?

"Ah!" Lucy jumped back, surprised by his sudden appearance and the feeling of a hand on her but. "Master! I'm married!"

Makarov made a puppy dog face as Lucy yelled at him, but it soon turned into a sly smile. "But Lucy! I'm your papa! And papa's have to make sure their children are safe and unhurt."

Lucy's eye twitched uncontrollably as she fought the urge to use Lucy Kick on her master. Breathing deeply, Lucy quickly calmed down. That's when she realized she still didn't know where Laxus was. Lucy looked down to her master, who was still wearing that perverted smile.

"Master, where's Laxus?"

That perverted smile was wipe away with one of sadness. "He's fighting Natsu right now. The rest of the guild have been trying to stop them without getting involved."

Lucy bit her lip from yelling out in frustration, when will those two learn! Sighing, Lucy looked at Master Makarov.

"Master, we need to talk."

"Of course, Lucy."

Lucy took a seat on the ground and Makarov followed. This is going to take a while to explain. Taking a deep breath, Lucy began.

"Do you know what Spirit Magic is, master?"

"I know that it is a magic long forgotten. Besides that nothing."

Lucy nodded her head in approval. "Good, that's the way it should be. You see, Spirit Magic is a very powerful magic. It allows an almost unlimited amount of powers to anyone who can fully wield it. But Spirit Magic is also something that can't be taught, yet taught at the same time. You can learn the spells, memorize the different powers, but you can really only use it if you were chosen."

"Chosen?"

Lucy nodded again. "Yes, you must be chosen by the Celestial King. When celestial keys were first given to man, it was to find and determine those suitable of learning Spirit Magic. A person first had to be a celestial mage, but a person isn't judged by their magic after that. A person is mainly judged by their personality and how they view things. These 'things' are very vast. How they view Spirits, how they think magic should be used, how they view the world around them. A person is also chosen by their personality, though that doesn't play as big a factor as the others, it's still important to know. Are you still following?"

Makarov nodded his head silently. He then waved his hand, motioning for her to continue.

"Spirit Magic is very dangerous. For one, it can control the emotions of people."

"It can control how people feel?"

"Yes. A persons emotions are found in their spirit, which is also known as the soul, or even the figurative 'heart'. That is why it can control emotions."

"So you can make someone love you?"

Lucy ran her tongue against her cheek as she thought her answer through for that one. "Yes and no. The affect on the emotion depends on what you want to do with it and which emotion you want. Love is a combination of lust and caring. Emotions are specific to individuals, and that affects how Spirit Magic works on emotions. You can change an emotion for a general purpose, or for a specific person. How the affected person feels about different people will affect how that person reacts towards them. So to answer your question, yes I can make someone love me, but it depends on how they viewed me to begin with and whether I wanted to play with their emotions or not, which I don't like doing."

"Have you ever used that power before?"

"I haven't had the need to. It's only been me and Laxus, and I wouldn't dare try to use it on him. Changing the levels of emotion of a person is extremely dangerous. You have to be precise, else you practically destroy their mind."

"Mind? You said that emotions were found in a person's soul."

"The soul and the mind are connected. The soul is your consciousness, which includes your memories, and emotions. It's up to the mind to tell the rest of the body how to react to the changes in it."

"I have one last question and then you can continue. Are you able to destroy a person's emotion?"

"If by 'destroy' you mean keep from surfacing, then yes. You would be able to lock that emotion away and keep it from surfacing again, but it can't be for every person the affected ever meets. I can lock away, for example, Juvia and Grey's love for one another, but not their love in general. Locking away emotions takes an extremely long time to do, though, because you need to have physical contact in order to do so."

"I think that answers all my questions on emotion. What else can your magic do? And yes, it was obvious Spirit Magic is now yours after bringing up the topic."

"R-right. Anyways, as you saw on the boat ride here, Spirit Magic allows you to change your physical form into that of a spirit. That allows me to fly through both objects and some magics. I can also view through another person's spirit. That's what I was doing when you snuck up on me. I was watching the memory of last night from the tree's perspective. There are very few things that don't have spirits, so far I am only aware of air and magic itself. And to let you know, an object's spirit, including living creatures, is made really from the combined spirits of what makes that object up. It is unknown how small an object has to be to not have a spirit of it's own because it's impossible to discover.

"Spirit Magic allows me to make contracts with an object' spirit, similar to the contract between Celestial Mages and their Spirits. I explained this to Guildarts before he passed out. Depending on the relationship with the object, the contract can be permanent or temporary, as well as define the limits of the contract. I made a temporary contract with his metal limbs. The contract allowed me to have them follow us until we made it to the camp. I have a permanent contract with my scythe, Midnight Reaper. I have a close relationship with my scythe which let me make a permanent contract with her. Only myself or those who I allow can wield her.

"Spirit Magic also allows me to move another's spirit. It's similar to a pact but it takes deep concentration to move them by force. Finally, Spirit Magic has a healing properties as well. It allows me to take on the physical injuries from other living things. I'm not quite sure how that involves the spirit, when I first learned Spirit Magic, I couldn't find any information on that exact subject."

"Why are you telling me all this, Lucy?" Makarov had adopted a very serious expression near the beginning of her lesson.

"Because your my master, and I believe you should know this information. But I also need your help. I'm going to permanently lower Natsu's love for me and his jealousy to Laxus to a safer level. I'll be like the others to him, a close family member at most. Laxus and his relationship will be more like a sibling rivalry where Laxus is constantly ahead.

"Jealousy is greed and hatred, and like I said before, love is caring and lust. I'll be permanently lowering four emotions at the same time. It'll require a physical connection, so I'll vulnerable when I'm doing this. I just need to know... will you help me?"

Makarov thought this over carefully, but quickly came to an answer.

"Yes. Yes I'll help you, Lucy."

**Author's Note- **O.o Lucy's plan… this is actually kind of how I imagined how she would fix the situation, it was going to be more of an adventure after Tenrou Island, but I decided that 'The Fairy Tail Continues' is the adventure story and so I wanted to keep this one more around drama and romance.

Also, to anyone who still remembers in chapter 14 when Lucy spoke about a 'prophecy', that was when the adventure idea was still in mind. Sorry, no prophecy in this one. I apologize to everyone for temporarily misleading you with that. Well, that's it for this author's not, hope it wasn't to long.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	17. Chapter 17: Dragons

**Author's Note- **Wow! You guys are amazing! That last chapter broke the 200 review mark! Thank you, all of you, for following through the story and sticking with me through it all. You guys are the best readers a wanna-be author can have. Well, I'm happy to present the 17th installment, also known as the beginning of the end, of "The Journey Begins". Have fun!

Chapter 17: Dragons

Lucy looked up to see her master as a giant. "Are you ready master?"

Makarov looked down and merely nodded. "I am."

"Remember, Natsu might burn you to escape, but you need to hold on. If I'm right, he won't activate his magic when I'm close enough, so it shouldn't be for too long. I'm going to bring them here now, so be prepared. You're going to need to pin Natsu down right away. He won't be able to move when I start the process, but you'll need to move or else you'll get caught in the spell as well. Alright?"

Makarov nodded again and grunted in response, showing he was ready.

Lucy raised both of her hands so that she was in the same form that she was in at the cave. A gold magic circle took shape around her, and the images of Laxus and Natsu started to flicker into existence. Makarov moved his hand so that it hovered right above Natsu. As soon as he became whole, that's when Makarov planned to strike.

The images of Natsu and Laxus soon came into existence. Both looked around, confused about what was going on. Makarov quickly brought his hand down on top of Natsu, trapping him with his back to the ground. Makarov looked up at Lucy expectedly, easily fighting off Natsu's struggles. She was panting and shakily raising from her knees. Suddenly, Makarov winced as he felt the bottom of his hand burn. Looking down, he saw Natsu surrounded by flames.

And that's when he saw it. His hair was no longer pink, but jet black. Makarov stared at the fire mage with wide eyes. He was screaming incomprehensible things, and his skin was now in the form of scales. Makarov looked up at Lucy urgently, hoping that she would have a cure.

She was only a few feet away from Natsu, her attention focused on him. Her eyes were wide as well, but she seemed to understand what was going on. When she was as close as she could get, Makarov heard her talk to Natsu.

"Natsu, stop. You're hurting me and master, do you want that?"

Makarov raised an eyebrow at what she said. Lucy wasn't being hurt by him. When the heat under hind hand subsided and he could no longer feel any more fire, realization dawned on him. Even though she wasn't using her magic yet, she was still manipulating Natsu's feelings for her. Clever girl.

Lucy was now kneeling in front Natsu, who was still trapped under neath Makarov's hand, and was reaching down to touch Natsu's forehead.

**...**

Lucy reached down and was just about to make physical contact when she was blown back by a fiery explosion. With a high pitched scream, Lucy was sent flying back into the tree she had hidden under. Makarov yelled out in agony as he brought his hand away, burns covering it's entire form.

Panting, Lucy looked over at the burning ball of fire. It was growing larger by the second, and was now almost as black as Natsu's new hair color. The ball of fire was now almost as tall as the trees. The fire slowly dissipated, flying away in streams, and revealed a creature Lucy regretted looking at.

Where the flames had once burned now stood a giant black dragon. Lucy could feel sweat starting drip from her fear alone. This would make things much more difficult. Lucy looked at Laxus, who was looking down at her. Both nodded and Lucy stood up. Laxus removed his arms from his wife and walked up in front of the dragon.

"You call that being a dragon? You're nothing more than an over grown gecko! I'll show you what a real dragon looks like!"

An orb of electricity formed around Laxus. It grew just like Natsu's, only it was nearly the size of Makarov when he's as a giant. It was the size of Lei-zi, the thunder dragon she and Laxus had met during their travels. The dragon that was her most powerful spirit.

The sphere of electricity dispersed quickly, and in it's place was Laxus' new form. He was almost the exact form of Lei-zi, only more muscular and masculine. The two dragons leaped into the sky and began to battle. Natsu and Laxus both used their respective powers, fire and thunder.

Lucy heard Makarov walk to her side, back to his original size, and knew that he was watching the fight as well. Only he didn't understand how the two could transform into dragons.

Without taking her eyes off the battle, she explained, "To temporarily transform into a dragon, it's the ultimate Dragon Slayer magic. A dragon slayer must first be approved by a dragon first, though. When that happens, the mage can transform into the type of dragon he or she represents. Laxus was approved by a thunder dragon we met during our travels only a few days before we returned."

**...**

Makarov listened carefully as she explained. Honestly, it didn't surprise him that dragon slayers could transform into dragons. It somewhat fitting of the role, actually. He did wonder when Laxus first learned Dragon Slayer magic, but that could wait for later. There was one thing he didn't understand, though.

"If a dragon slayer must be approved by a dragon, then how was Natsu able to transform?"

Lucy squinted her eyes at something that happened in the fight, but she still answered. "He must have forced a transformation. With such strong emotions and his huge reliance on his instincts, he must have 'touched' the dragon in him. Because it was forced he's not as big as normal, which, thankfully, is a good thing. What I'm worried about is that his hair's black now."

Makarov nodded as he rubbed his chin, "Yes, that is troublesome, but how much so?"

"Very. When a dragon slayer transforms that way, it can only be interpreted as one thing. That they have been chosen."

Makarov squinted his eyes now as well. What did that mean, and why does it sound so menacing? "What do you mean? Chosen for what? And by whom?"

Lucy shook her head slightly. She closed her eyes as her head hung low.

"Not 'whom', but 'what'. Natsu has been chosen by a dragon to become it's human host."

Makarov raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Host?"

Lucy nodded, her eyes still shut. "A dragon, if similar in personality to a dragon slayer, can fuse itself with the dragon slayer if the mage agrees. What the mage normally doesn't know is that the stronger of the two is the one that controls the body, which is the dragon most of the time."

"Alright," Makarov nodded his head as he spoke that first word. He was still rubbing his chin when he spoke again, "So what dragon chose him? And how do we know he'll agree?"

"Natsu is in his most instinctual state right now, and even if he wasn't, he'd do nearly anything to be stronger. Fusing with a dragon would do that. As to which dragon, I thought it would be obvious."

Lucy looked to the sky now. Tears were forming in her eyes. Suddenly a large roar was emitted from somewhere. Makarov looked nearly directly above them. There was a huge clearing of clouds, and right in the middle was a large black dragon with blue markings.

Makarov looked over at Lucy stunned. She was staring up at the dragon with an anger in her eyes he had never seen her with. Lucy, unblinking, never took her gaze off the large dragon. Makarov barley heard her whisper it's name, but he never could've mistaken it.

"Acnologia."

**Author's Note- **That has to be one of the biggest cliffhangers ever! i'm so sorry this is a day late, I had about a 1 1/2 pages done yesterday, but I wanted to make sure I got the rest right. Again I have to thank all of you for reading my story for so long. It means a lot to me, it really does. Especially since, in my opinion, my writing is terrible and is improving at a snail's pace. Thank you all, really *tears form*, it means so, so much to see all the positive reviews I get from you guys and I hope you'll stick around for the end.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	18. Chapter 18: Fusion

**A/N: **I am so so so so so so sorry this is so late. My computer broke two weeks ago and I didn't get it back till last monday, so I was already two weeks behind and I hadn't even had this chapter started. And to all wondering about "The Fairy Tale Continues", I deleted that story because there were things I needed to change and I figured it would be for the best if I just reposted the story. Well, that's all I have for now sooo… read on.

Chapter 18: Fusion

As the dragon's name was said, a deafening roar was emitted. Natsu, still in dragon form, was now hovering face to face with Acnologia. Another roar came from Acnologia, and Natsu did the same in response. Both started to glow a bright eerie purple. Their bodies became a light of that color, and no distinguishing features, except their size, could be made out. Only two bright shining orbs remained where they had once been. The two spheres began to orbit each other, swirling at an increasing speed. Soon the two became one, and only one light remained.

The sphere then floated down to the ground. When it was about ten feet from the stone, an invisible shockwave was emitted. This shockwave pushed back all of the trees and plants, creating a large clearing. Then the orb began to shrink until it was about the size of a person. The light faded away and in it's place stood Natsu, only he was no longer in his dragon form. He was taller, almost as tall as Laxus, and nearly as muscled too. His hair was pink again, but now was much longer than before. The biggest and most obvious change was his new attire, however. Black armor that closely resembled that of a dragon, with even wings and a tail. In his right hand he held a longsword that was nearly the same length as him.

Natsu soon took notice of the trio of mages, for Laxus was now standing beside them as a human again, and looked down at them mockingly. Lucy, Laxus, and Makarov stood their ground, and glared up at this 'new' Natsu. Suddenly, others started to run out of the forest into the clearing; Grey, Erza, Gildarts, Cana, and Mirajane. The five of them were running towards Lucy. Without a moment's notice, all five were instantly blown up against the trees that surrounder the perimeter of the clearing.

"No!" Makarov screamed out. He launched himself at Natsu with great fury. A battle cry escaped his lips as he became closer and closer. But to Lucy's shock, he was easily swatted away with Natsu left hand.

With a loud crash, Makarov slammed into the trees. Natsu silently turned his head to face Lucy and Laxus once again. Lucy heard a growl beside her and new Laxus was preparing to battle once again.

"Laxus, wait. We're going to have to do 'that'."

The growling paused for a moment, "You sure? We've never actually used that before. How do we know if it'll work or not?"

Lucy smirked. "Like we have a choice."

"Right, on your command."

Lucy nodded, then whipped out a single key from her collection. It was white, but tinted yellow, and had a lightning bolt etched onto the grip. "Open! Gate of the thunder dragon: Lei-zi!"

A magic circle, meters high, appeared in front of Lucy. An uncountable amount of lightning bolts burst from the circle. A large dragon formed itself out of the bolts.

_Lucy, Laxus. It's good to see you again. Though I wish it were under better circumstances._

Laxus walked up to Lei-zi with a small frown. "We'll have to exchange the pleasantries later, Lei-zi. We're fighting a fusion."

Lei-zi nodded her long head, _Of course, Laxus. Are you ready? I assume Lucy will be needing time?_

Now it was Laxus' turn to nod. Without another word, Laxus transformed once again into a dragon and a process similar to the one between Natsu and Acnologia happened. Lucy backed away, knowing that she would need to be a safe distance away.

Laxus soon appeared. His armor resembled a dragon as well, only his was a shining gold. When he spoke, his voice was as if both he and Lei-zi were speaking at the exact same time. That signified that neither one was taking control and were coinciding with each other. A good sign.

"Acnologia. You have forcefully taken over the body of a dragon slayer, and one that is not of your own element. For the destruction and chaos that you have caused, we shall now enact justice."

Natsu, or really Acnologia in Natsu's body, snorted. "You think you have the power to defeat me, Lei-zi? You may be powerful yourself, more than any common dragon, but you cannot compare to me. As of now, I wield two of the draconic powers, where as you only wield one. You cannot compare."

Laxus shook his head, "We alone do not have the power to defeat you, yes. But we are not alone."

Acnologia broke out into a fit of laughter now. "Y-you think that spirit mage over there will be of any help? Dragons are immune to Spirit Magic, it will have no effect on me."

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?"

Laxus leaped forward, bringing his own longsword to slash in front of him. Natsu easily dodged and counter-attacked. The two continued like this, one attacks while the other dodges.

Lucy had started the spell needed to separate Natsu and Acnologia. She held her scythe above her head with both hands and performed a series of moves, as if performing a ritual. Orbs of dissipating energy started to appear and float around her. A magic circle began to form as the dance continued.

As the dance came to an end, the light from the circle intensified. As a final step, Lucy jumped high into the air. Once she reached the peak ascent, one of her hands was placed against her heart. A warm golden glow appeared beneath her hand and time seemed to slow down. Slowly, Lucy brought her hand away and revealed a crystal key.

Taking hold of the key, Lucy began to plummet towards the earth. Her speed increased as the distance between her and the ground did the opposite. After only a few moments, she landed.

**...**

Acnologia looked to his side with annoyance. A large dust cloud took up most of what he could see so there was no way of knowing what had interrupted his fight with Lei-zi. Acnologia squinted his eyes when he noticed a small glimmer in the cloud. What was it? Why was it growing bigger?

Suddenly, Acnologia felt something slam against his throat and blow him back against the tree line. When he recovered enough, he tried to push himself off a tree but found that whatever had chocked him was now trapping him. He reached up to try to destroy whatever the object was, but as soon as his hand touched the mysterious object an intolerable pain revealed itself to him. Acnologia quickly brought his hand away. After a few moments he brought both hands up to try again.

_I wouldn't suggest that if I were you. The pain only increases with both hands._

Acnolgia looked everywhere he could but did not see anyone. The memories inside this dragon slayer's body suggested that it was a celestial mage known as Lucy. An image of Lucy came to his mind, and acnologia recognized her as the spirit mage.

_Is that really how I look? Wow, pregnancy has not been kind to me._

That definitely answered his question.

"How is it you are doing this, mage. Dragons are immune to Spirit magic; we've built up a natural resistance to it over the millennia."

Acnologia heard a small giggle in his mind, one that had seriously annoyed him.

_Acnologia, your so simple minded. You fused with a human. It may have given you more power, but you cast off your true draconic form; which means you gave up your resistance to my magic._

What? How was that possible! Even he didn't know that, and he was the dragon here! Acnologia growled.

"How dare you mock me, human! I am Acnologia, the greatest dragon to ever live! I will not be taken down so easily!"

Acnologia tried to transform into a dragon, but as soon as he activated his magic the pain from before shot through him. He tried to force his way through the burning sensation within himself, but Acnolgia soon gave in. He was panting now, worn out from the exertion. He glanced up for a moment, and then there was a strange feeling in between his eyes. Like something had been stabbed through, but did not actually injure him.

_This is goodbye, Acnologia. Wish I could say your going to a better place, but that won't be happening any time soon._

With the last of his strength, Acnologia looked to see what the cause of the sensation was. There, protruding from his head, was a crystal key. Then everything went black.

**A/N:** The writing style changed a bun of times… sorry. I prefer the style I used at the very end, but I don't seem to write like that often, which annoys me. Anyways, another cliffhanger, I do like using those. I'm officially on summer break now (WOO! I'm not a freshman anymore now!), so I should be getting more writing done I hope. That's why I'll be writing two stories at once soon, I hope that will end well for me. One more thing then I'll stop my ramblings, I didn't place in that writing contest I entered :( , my teacher said it had to do with the fact that I was only a high school freshman and that higher clansman normally win. I hope she was talking about age and not writing skill… oh well, I said I'd be done and now I am. Talk to you all next week


	19. Chapter 19: A Big Mistake

Chapter 19: A Big Mistake

Lucy could feel Acnologia's power emanate from Natsu as she stood next to him. A dark evil that made all the harder for her to near him. Having been a dragon, and having such strong emotions was effecting her magic.

It was hard to take a grip on the crystal key, awkwardly protruding from his forehead, but she was able to. She removed her right hand and touched where the skin and key met together. Bringing her hand down, she created a golden trail against his skin and armor until her hand was in the exact center of his chest.

"I take you, spirit of Acnologia. From now forth you shall be my guardian, my defender of the balance. You shall protect the souls of all from destruction, and aid me in keeping the flow of life undisrupted."

Lucy took a moment to gather he power, then started again.

"This line, drawn upon this earthly body, represents the connection between mind a soul. I take you, spirit, from this man's soul and mind."

Within the key, there seemed to be a black substance of some kind swirling around. The armor Natsu was wearing dispersed into stream of black gas. Lucy fell to her knees, panting. After a few moments, she was held strongly against a firm body. It was one she would always know.

"L-Laxus. I-I can't stop... emotions."

Lucy felt Laxus comb his hand through her hair as he whispered to her. "You need to rest, your completely dry on power. I can handle it from here."

Shakily, Lucy shook her head and raggedly whispered back, "N-no... key... must... take back key..."

Then everything went black.

**...**

Laxus felt it when Lucy went limp. She had been in his arms after all. He repositioned her so that he was carrying her bridal style and that her hands were resting on her lap. Slowly he stood up and walked over to the group of other Fairy Tail mages. Most of them were still out, but Makarov and Erza seemed to have come to. Both of them were looking at him and Lucy with a mix of confusion, shock, and worry.

"She should be fine, b-but..." Laxus trailed off as he started to get dizzy. His own lack of magic starting to take effect. "W-we need to get her back, t-to rest."

Laxus fell to his knees. Fusing with Lei-zi had sucked him almost as dry as Lucy. He knew it would take a lot of power. He hadn't known he would be this worn out.

Laxus gently placed Lucy on the ground, then looked up at the two mages.

"H-hurry."

Then Laxus himself slumped over as he fell into a deep sleep next to his wife.

**...**

Laxus woke with a start. He whipped his head around in search of Lucy. She was completely vulnerable in the sate she was in. After a few moments of panic, he saw her a few beds down, resting peacefully. Now with a clear head, Laxus took in the room. They were in the guild's infirmary.

Laxus spent the next few moments trying to remember before he passed out. He was just starting to remember when someone walked into the room. It was Mira, and it looked like she had been crying.

"Mira."

She gasped, then looked at Laxus as if he was a ghost. Mira dropped the bandages she had been holding an ran back into the guild. Even from here Laxus could still hear her.

"Master! Everyone! It's Laxus, he's awake!"

A muffled uproar came from the guild hall. Laxus waited another few moments, knowing a huge crowd would be coming in any second. Suddenly, it seemed as if almost the entire guild had been stuffed inside the small infirmary. Everyone was yelling out questions, wanting to know what exactly was going on.

Failing at keeping himself from frying all of them to a crisp, Laxus lit up his eyes with his magic as sparks of electricity jumped from them. "Get out."

Almost everyone that was in the room ran for their lives, practically wetting themselves. Which was just what Laxus had wanted. The only ones left were Makarov, Erza, and Grey.

"Laxus, do you remember anything that happened on Tenroujima Island?"

Laxus looked at Lucy for a moment then answered. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost a week. Now Laxus, please what's going on?

"Give me a second, old man. I just woke up, everything's still kinda hazy."

Laxus once again attempted to remember what had happened. Without an interruption, he was successful this time.

"Yeah... yeah I remember."

"Would you care to elaborate, then? I would really like to know if Lucy's okay. Everyone's been worrying while you've been sleeping."

Laxus shot a glare at Grey, the one who had said that. "You're not in a position to mock me, stripper. I may have been out of it, but I'm the only one here who was actually able to help with Acnologia. Plus, I'm the only one here who knows anything about what's going on. That means you shut up, stripper boy."

Grey huffed before crossing his arms and looking away. Laxus let a smirk appear on his face for a moment before turning his attention back to his grandfather.

"There are a few things possibly going on right now, all probably happening. Since Lucy's body has been unconscious for almost a week now," Laxus looked back Makarov," right?"

The old mage nodded, causing Laxus to do the same.

"Okay, that means she's either storing up a lot of magic for a surprise attack, trying to talk it out peacefully, or Acnologia's spirit is really tough. Hopefully not all three."

"What do you mean?"

Laxus looked up at Erza now. "You mean you guys didn't try to research this stuff while I was out? Or could you guys just not find anything?" The scarlet haired mag nodded her head, and again Laxus did the same.

Makarov looked up at Laxus, hoping to obtain more answers. "Is there more to her powers than she told me?"

Laxus snorted. "Well, seeing as how I don't know what she told you, probably. I doubt she would have told you everything, there are a few things even I don't know. I do know what's going on now, thankfully." Laxus took a deep breath, then began his explanation.

"Each Spirit Mage is capable of creating one Celestial Spirit. They do this by defeating an already living creature in battle, then trapping it inside of a key. Or the other way around. This is the other way around. Which is unfortunately more difficult. To trap the creature inside the key, the mage must connect the mind a soul with their magic. That creature's soul then travels through that connection, out the mind and into the key, hence the placement of the key in Natsu's forehead.

Since Acnologia had fused with Natsu only recently before it was trapped, Lucy was able to trap Acnologia's soul without taking Natsu's. By the way, he should probably be kept somewhere safe, away from people and in magic nullifying rope. Lucy won't be able to work on him for a while."

Makarov waved his hand to continue. "It's already been done, please continue."

"Right. Since Lucy trapped Acnologia in a key before it was weakened means her soul is battling Acnologia's. "

"What does that mean, exactly? Laxus?"

"It means right now, inside Lucy's mind, her soul is fighting, in a way, with Acnologia's. Since Lucy is the Spirit Mage and it's her mind she should have the upper hand, but since Acnologia's a dragon, I can't say. Luckily Acnologia is trapped inside it's key, and it-"

"You mean this key?"

Everyone looked back at Grey, who was picking up an object from a table next to Lucy's bed. It was the crystal key from before.

Laxus breathed in sharply, then slowly made his way to Grey. With wide eyes, he snatched the key from the ice mage's hand and examined it closely.

Quietly, he whispered in a shocked tone. "N-no." He then looked up at the others. "You idiots! You took this away before Lucy could reabsorb it, didn't you?"

"Yes, Laxus. It was emanating a strong magical presence, so we took it to examine it."

Laxus was seething, taking deep breaths as he restrained himself from attack the trio. He held the key up for them to see. "This, this was supposed to merge with Lucy after she trapped Acnologia. If you kept this from her, that means you took away the one upper hand she had left."

"What do you mean? Surely it's not that bad."

"Shut up old man! You don't know what you're talking about! Merging this with Lucy is what causes the battle to occur in her mind. If their separate, then battling with Acnologia has become ten times harder."

"How, Laxus? Is there anything we can do to help?" Erza's voice seemed to be calm and caring. Her feminine side acting up. She understood what he was going through, it was the same thing she went through with Jellal.

"Because the key is separate, the battle is now going on inside the key, not Lucy. The only way to help is to somehow get the key to return to her."

"But how do we do that?"

Laxus looked back at Grey this time. "It would require a large amount of Spirit Magic."

"Well that's great! The only problem is, Lucy's the only one in the whole world who has that!"

Laxus gave Makarov a quick, questioning glance. How much did he tell them?

"We could also use Celestial Magic, since it's a more basic version of it."

"That still doesn't help us, though! Lucy was the only celestial mage we have!"

Grey's complaining was really starting to get on Laxus's nerves now. "Shut up, stripper! And no, it does help us. I learned some Celestial Magic from Lucy. It should be enough to work."

Erza spoke up again, now. "Then we should commence right away."

"There's only one problem. Using Celestial Magic takes away almost all my magic. We'll only have one shot."

**A/N:** This story is taking longer than I thought it would, I thought I'd have it done by the next chapter, but that's not gonna happen. Maybe 25? Oh well, we'll find out, eventually, won't we? : ) I'm sure pretty much everyone has read the most recent chapter, right? Can you believe how epic that was! But kinda disappointing cause now they're resorting to that kind of thing, where they'll throw really big challenges then make it look like it was defeated so easily… kinda like me : ) that's probably not a good thing to be happy about though. If I owned Fairy Tail, it would probably be run into the ground.

Anyways! I was rambling, so sorry. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have some other projects that I'm working on (their not Fairy Tail though) so I'm going to be one busybody.

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel


	20. Chapter 20: Planned Out

**A/N:** So, so, so, so, so sorry this is a week late. I had been busy last weekend and was unable to work on this. So that's why I'm gonna make it up to you guys by updating again tomorrow… or today. It's like 12:30 in the morning and I meant to get this up an hour ago. Ugh, rambling again. I'll be updating again within the next 24 hours… I hope.

Chapter 20: Planned Out

Laxus looked down at the crystal key in his hand. This had to work. If the key didn't merge with Lucy once again, then chances would be very, very bad. She would most likely die. He would lose his best friend and center of his world. He would lose his Lucy. But not only Lucy, he would lose his unborn children. That was something he would not allow, so that's why he would gladly give up his life for her.

Laxus took one last look at his grandfather, then walked around Lucy's bed so that he was on her left. The side where the key was supposed to merge with her. Laxus gently placed the key over her heart, then covered it with his large hands, one hand overlapping the other. He focused his magic into celestial power, redirecting it to out of his hands.

A small magic circle appeared above his hands, and, as most celestial magic causes, a golden light came about underneath his hands. Only moments passed, but Laxus was already starting to feel drained. He could only hope he had enough power to ensure that she would be safe.

Almost a full minute later, and Laxus was forced to kneel on one knee. His jaw was clenched in concentration as he poured every last drop of magic he had. Another minute passed. The magic circle faded away and the light disappeared from underneath Laxus' hands. Exhaustion took Laxus over and he collapsed onto the floor.

"Laxus!" Erza, Grey, and Makarov rushed to his side. They has been watching on the sidelines, unable to help.

Laxus looked up at his grandfather. Panting, he asked the only question on his mind. "Th-the key... is it still there?"

Grey checked on Lucy while Erza helped Laxus stand up. "The key's gone! And look, Lucy's waking up!"

Laxus had his arm draped around Laxus while he stood and looked over Lucy. She had a large frown and eyebrows furrowed.

"No! Her body is rejecting the key!"

"What do you mean?" Makarov looked up at Laxus confused.

"Acnologia's spirit must have been so powerful that it tainted the key with his power. Because of that, Lucy's body doesn't recognize the key."

"If Lucy's body isn't merging the key, then what's going on right now?"

"The taint in the key, Acnolgia's power, it's keeping her body from fully rejecting the key. If that key is kept inside her for to long, she's going to die."

"Then we have to remove the key. Do you know how Laxus?" Erza asked, finally voicing her thoughts.

"We would have to remove the taint from the key. If we do, then her body will be able to fully merge with the key."

"Alright, but we have no idea how to remove this taint from the key." Grey complained once again.

"Actually, I do. Unfortunately, you're not going to like how."

"Why?" Grey eyed Laxus suspiciously.

"We would need someone who has been touched by Acnologia's power."

The other three mages took in a sharp breath. It was the last person they would want to ask for help in a situation like this. Natsu. They needed Natsu.

**...**

Laxus had remained at the guild infirmary to rest and monitor Lucy's condition. So only Makarov, Erza, and Grey approached where Natsu had been hidden. The fire mage had been kept in a store house hidden in the forest outside of one talked as the trio walked along the dirt trail to the store house. After minutes of silence passed, they had arrived.

The store house was more of an out of place shack. It was rarely used by Fairy Tail anymore because of it's remote location. It was in poor condition because of this. Cobwebs and termite damage could easily be identified.

Makarov entered the building alone. Grey and Erza would wait outside in case Natsu somehow escaped. The only light in the shack came from the now open door frame. The air was filled with dust and made it slightly more difficult to breathe. He kept up his business like appearance, though. He couldn't show weakness now.

In the middle of the floor lay Natsu, tied to a chair with magic nullifying rope. He must have tried to escape, else he wouldn't be lying on his side. It was only natural that he had tried, whether Natsu was himself now or not. It's simply the way he was, and the reason everything going on was happening in the first place. Fight first, think later. That had been his motto.

Natsu's hair was once again its original shade of pink after the fight with Acnologia, and Makarov could only hope that was a good sign. He had also been unconscious afterwards. Makarov hadn't dared to send anybody to check up on him out of worry that they would be injured. Or worse.

Natsu's body moved slightly, and the fire mages head turned to face Makarov.

"Master! Get me the fuck out of here! Why am I tied up? And why can't I use my magic?"

Makarov made no move to untie him, and instead stood there. He was trying to think everything through. Natsu seemed to have returned to his normal self, but it was to soon to tell if he was still some how being controlled by Acnologia.

"I'm sorry Natsu. But I won't be untying you." Makarov activated his magic. His arm extended forward, elongating until it hovered over Natsu's head. Not even a second later, Natsu was knocked out.

Makarov let out a sigh as he picked Natsu up. He was still tied to the chair as he was slowly brought out of the shack and placed in front of Erza and Grey.

"Remember, if it seems as if he's about to wake up, do not hesitate to knock him out once again. I'm not certain if Natsu is truly himself, so we're going to have to be extremely cautious."

**...**

Laxus sat next to Lucy's bed. He had since the others had left, and with the infirmary far enough away so that no noise wafted in from the main hall, it was an almost dead silence. Laxus took solace in the silence. It gave him time to think. I gave him time to plan. He had no idea how they would remove the taint from Lucy. He didn't know was how the taint could be pulled out. The only thing he knew was that Natsu would have to be willing to help. If he wasn't, then Laxus didn't know what to do.

That was why he was planning. He needed to find a way to by pass all those limitations and exceptions. He needed a way that wouldn't harm any one else. Suddenly, after minutes of quiet thinking, Laxus stood up and ran out of the infirmary. Or really, moved as quickly as he could to the main hall of the guild.

Once he arrived, all the members halted their conversations. Stared at Laxus with surprise and confusion. Laxus paid it no heed, he needed to find someone. They were his only hope.

"Levy! Where are you? Levy!" Laxus screamed out.

His whipped around as he searched for the blue haired script mage. He spotted her at a table with some flying cats and that metal dragon slayer. She was staring up at him. Laxus moved as quickly as he could in his wounded state over to Levy. by the time he had reached her, Levy was already standing up from her chair.

"Levy, come with me to the infirmary. Now!" Laxus took hold of Levy wrist. His grip was loose and weak. He was exhausted from moving so much after using so much magic. But he wouldn't have tried to hurt her anyways, she was Lucy's best friend.

Levy readily complied by nodding her head and briskly walking along next to Laxus. The sight of him in this state left her speechless. Everyone in the guild knew that Laxus and Lucy had been in the guild's infirmary for a week now, but only the ones that were on Tenrou jima Island knew what had happened. All of them, however, had claimed that the master had ordered them not to speak about it until both Laxus and Lucy were awake.

Without looking over his shoulder, Laxus commanded, "Mira, you come, too. I'm going to neeed your help as well.

The rest of the walk to the infirmary went in silence. Laxus pulled Levy, and Mira followed them from close behind. When they were in the safe confounds of the room, Laxus finally spoke.

"Levy, I need you to make lightning, as much as you can. Mira, I need you to hold watch Lucy, and, if needed, hold her down to keep her from hurting herself."

Levy tilted her head slightly. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What do you mean, Laxus?"

Laxus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm if everything was to work out right. "Listen, I don't have time to explain everything to you two. I have almost no magic right now, and I'm going to need a lot real soon. Lucy is reacting to something in a way similar to a seizure. It's very small, and won't be causing vey much physical damage, but it's ferocity will skyrocket soon. She'll thrash around and be a danger to herself, do you understand? That's all I can say right now."

Both females nodded. They hesitated for a moment, but moved on to their tasks without question. Mira sat next to Lucy, watching her for any movement. She soon realized that Lucy was suffering from something like a miniature seizure. Limbs would suddenly twitch and shake out of control for a few moments then calm down before starting up again more intense then before. Levy was standing in front of Laxus, who was sitting on the floor. She shouted out the word lightning, and the lightning would burst from her magic circle towards Laxus. Laxus made no move to dodge or block the attack, but instead swallowed the electricity similar to how Natsu eats fire in battle.

Not much time passed after this routing was set up before Erza, Grey, and Makarov crashed through the door holding a tied up and unconscious Natsu. At that moment, Lucy did exactly as Laxus had predicted. She thrashed about uncontrollably in her bed. Mira struggled to hold Lucy's arms down while Erza, who had moved to help, held down Lucy's legs.

Laxus looked at Makarov urgently. "We have to do this now. We're running out of time."

**A/N: **So much drama! This is starting to become cliche isn't it? If it is, I'm sorry. If it isn't, well then I don't know. Hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter! Talk to you all later, bye!


	21. Chapter 21: The Final Battle

**A/N:** Again this is late, what's wrong with me! … Don't answer that. This is only late by like, not even an hour but it's late all the same! Curse Jeff Dunham and his distracting yet quite hilarious ways! Okay, I want to start responding to people's reviews in a story I'll be posting soon (another FT fic of course) so I want to get into the hang of it. To do so, I'm going to practice now. It's strange I know, but I like to embrace my strangeness. :)

These are the people that reviewed before and during the time I was writing this, so if you're not here, sorry.

**Suikodengel: **I'm pretty sure you've been reading since the beginning, so I want to say thanks for staying throughout the whole thing! Yeah, it did. Simple answer. :)

**Icetail1r:** Yeah, the last chapter was pretty much a set-up for this and maybe the next one. I wanted this chapter to come out differently, but this was the best I could do… I think. I tried to put more into this chapter, but it's not as good as I hoped. I'm glad you still like it though. :)

**GoldenRoseLuceTanya: **As you can see, I did. :D

**Princess Happy: **No need to worry! i would never kill the main character (remembers first story where Lucy dies)

Chapter 21: The Final Battle

Natsu was still tied to the chair when he was placed down next to Lucy's bed. Laxus stood next to him. The thunder mage glanced down at the fire mage for a moment, then back to Lucy. He didn't like having to rely on the idiot to save her, but he had no other choice.

"I'll be using a variation of my Organic Link Magic," Laxus warned the others, "I'll link Natsu to Lucy, with myself as the connector. I'll be able to pass the taint from Lucy, through me, to Natsu." A few of the others gasped. "Natsu will be fine, because of his connection to Acnologia."

Levy was about to ask a question, and it looked like Mira wanted to as well. Laxus shook his head. Now was not the time for questions, they needed to hurry. Laxus placed his head atop the Natsu's head, his pink hair flattened down. Laxus then placed his other hand gently on Lucy, who was still being held down by Levy and Mira.

He closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. Laxus then built up his power, harnessed it, and focused it so that it spread from hand to hand. Suddenly, a black aura pulsated around Laxus' left hand, the one that laid atop Lucy's head. The menacing aura spiraled up Laxus' arm. When the spiral reached Laxus' shoulder, it started to recede from his hand and became a tight coil around his left arm.

He was almost done, there was only one more step. Laxus focused his magic on the coil. With his will, he was able to direct it across his body to where he knew it needed to go. The dark aura moved and criss-crossed against Laxus' chest. His focus intensified, and the dark aura was gone. A long sigh escaped Laxus' lips as he fell back to the floor. His job was completed, and he wasn't needed anymore.

**...**

Lucy awoke to a blank darkness. Everywhere she turned there was only black. There was no light, no life. A world where there was no light, no hope. Only fear and anger. A world that shouldn't exist.

Lucy tried to tap into her power, but all she felt was an emptiness. Calmly, Lucy studied the darkness around her once again. She needed to figure out where she was and how she got there. That's when she remembered what happened. And that confused her. The key should have merged with her. She should have battled Acnologia. She should be with Laxus and her family, sitting at home and reading pregnancy books.

There was only one explanation. She and the key hadn't been merged. That means her conscious was inside the key. But then... where was Acnologia? Lucy took a step forward and then suddenly an eerie blue light erupted from beneath her. Surprise racked Lucy's brain for a moment and all she could do was step back. Whatever she was standing on rumbled, as if growling. Lucy took another step, then another. The object shook violently and she was sent rocketing down.

As she fell, the distance between her and the light increased. As the distance increased, Lucy was able to recognize what it was. It was Acnologia's blue markings. Lucy could make out the tail, the wings, even parts of the face. Lucy squinted her eyes as she tried to make something out before she was to far away. Acnologia's eyes, they were open. And they were staring directly at her.

Acnologia moved, and a terrifying noise ripped through the whistle of air against her ears. A bright orb of energy formed, illuminating Acnologia and herself, but nothing else. The orb formed and grew at the base of the dragon's open snout. Not even moments later, a large beam ripped through the empty space and hurdled itself towards Lucy.

Lucy twirled her body, using the momentum to quickly evade the attack by the skin of her teeth. Lucy didn't even have time to look back as Acnologia flew at her and slammed against her small body. Lucy soared from the impact. Nothing blocked her path, allowing Lucy to take advantage of the attack and clumsily direct herself away from Acnologia.

Lucy looked over her shoulder to see Acnologia chasing after her. Suddenly, Lucy crashed into something. Even though she was moving at such a high speed, Lucy didn't feel any pain. That's the way it worked. Both she and Acnologia were only spirits inside of her crystal key.

Lucy slid down whatever she had crashed into. Lucy looked back once again to see Acnologia still following her, now quickly catching up to her. Lucy could soon feel the movement of air Acnologia's wings created as they moved. That was not a good sign. Luckily, Lucy had reached the bottom of the wall she had been riding and was now sliding against what felt like an uneven stone floor. Acnologia crashed into the stone.

Taking this chance, Lucy ran as fast as she could. If she couldn't use her magic, then she didn't stand a chance against the evil creature. As Lucy ran, she brushed her fingers against the floor, and recognized it as crystal. They must literally be inside the key. That was one thing even Lucy hadn't known.

Lucy looked back once again to see Acnologia no longer there. Suddenly, she was trapped underneath what felt like a giant claw. She squirmed and struggled against the unknown force but to no avail. Lucy slowly turned her head and saw Acnologia's glowing blue markings, confirming her suspicions.

Without warning, a bright light burned through the darkness and revealed that they were, in fact, inside the key. Lucy could feel her power return, and she knew the key was now successfully within her. The sudden light blinded Acnologia, but Lucy was unaffected. In it's blinded state, the dragon released. Lucy smirked as she focused her magic in her legs and quickly leapt into the air. Lucy was almost able to brush her hands against the roof of the chamber within the key at the epoch of her ascent. At the same time, Acnologia recovered from its daze. The black dragon roared up at Lucy as it flew up towards her.

Lucy yelled out a battle cry as she released her magic. "Lucy Kick!"

Lucy's magic formed around her and trailed behind in a golden blaze. Lucy twirled once again, adding power to her final attack. Her back jarred as she landed atop Acnologia, smashing both it and herself back into the crystal floor. Gracefully, she backflipped away.

Acnologia was defeated. As those three words formed inside Lucy's mind, Acnologia's body began to transform into a dark black mist that soon dispersed into nothing. Soon, all of Acnologia's body was gone, and all that remained was a woman. The woman stood where Acnologia's head had once been. Her hair was a glimmering silver and here eyes were a majestic shade of was slightly shorted than Lucy and wore a flowing white dress and a gracious smile.

Lucy gaped, her mouth hung wide open. She had no idea what was going on now. Who was this lady? What was she doing here? How did she get here? Lucy tried to ask these questions, but no words came out. The woman seemed to notice this as she giggled slightly and walked up to Lucy.

Smiling cutely, she cupped her hands around Lucy's. "Hello Lucy. My name is Acnologia, celestial spirit of man kind."

**A/N: **Well, I hope that was at least a little bit surprising. i'm sure it could have been better. It's rushed, it seems rushed, and it will always be rushed, boohoo. I'm going to try to get the next chapter up sooner than usual, hopefully Thursday, but I'm not promising anything (stares at you all through computer screen). Have fun!


	22. Chapter 22: Going Back

**A/N: **How is it that I'm always late! Ugh! *sigh* Anyways, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! These last… *checks calendar* two weeks were packed full of notifications. Reviews, story alerts, favorites. How is it I get so many during the longest time I've been gone? Ironic. Thank you to all those people that enjoy this story, no matter how off track my Author Notes get! Excluding Authors Notes, this story has reached over 40,000 words and more than 100 pages on my computer. Never thought it would ever get that long. Honest.

**iluvkawainess: **I'm glad I've converted yet another, MUAHAHAHA! :D

**pandylover18: **Well… it was soon for you :D

**GIRL OF PARADISE: **I think it's always been confusing for a lot of people. the fact that's only know starting to be confusing for you is probably a good thing.

**MyInkHeart: **;D

**Killer Moon Lover: **To chapter 21 Review: Sorry, I don't like cherries. But I updated finally!

To chapter 14 Review: Yes! That's it!

**Jasmine: **To your chapter 9 Review: Yeah, he was meant to be a stalker. everyone else said the same.

**xXRedPokerGirlxX:** Honestly I have no idea what would happen in real life, but in the next chapter everything will be cleared up on that issue. So just a few more days! Maybe even less if I can find the time.

**JelloXGiggles: **Yeah, sorry about that. I had a very vague idea of how to write him, so I just went on a whim pretty much. Around the time that he did sing, I tried to make it seem like the one thing that makes him like that is Lucy.

**Veraozao: **Me too. 3

**Rosella6199: **I'm glad you think that. I'm just now starting to become more confident in my writing skills.

**Icetail1r: **I would answer you're question here, but it's explained inside the chapter. How is it you ask questions I already plan to explain? Are you like psychic or something?

**FunkistReader: **Yeah, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Well, except me, but I'm the author so… yeah. Glad you like it! :)

**Suikodengel: **Don't be sad, I'm currently working on a JellalxLucy fix that I'll be posting when I near the end of The Discovery, which I will resume posting as soon as I finish this fix.

**Serena Fallenheart: **Yeah, it's confusing to a lot of people I'm sure. Yes, mages can learn two types of magic. It's not hereditary, but actually a state of mind they train into. So really, it depends on (considering the person has magic) a person's mental capacity and time to learn knew magic.

**Vatala Darkmist: **Random? Really? Well, maybe. I don't really know.

**Princess Happy: **I'm glad for the impatience!

**Lucy Ashely from Fairy Tail:** Yep! :)

Chapter 22: Going Back

"Y-y-you're a... a... you're a girl!" Lucy exclaimed as her mind finally started to process what was going on.

Acnologia let out an unbecoming, exasperated sigh as she restrained herself from falling to the ground. That was something she had expected someone like that dragon slayer from before to ask, not the Spirit Mage. Especially one that bragged about her intelligence.

Recomposing herself, Acnologia answered Lucy's question. "Yes, I am female. I really am the Celestial Spirit of Man. I represent human beings."

Lucy's mind was still recovering from the initial shock. Therefore, she was only able to get a few words out here and there. "But you... dragon... evil... how?"

Acnologia smiled knowingly. She easily pieced together what Lucy meant to ask. "Because I represent humans, I am effected by their actions and personality as a whole. Long ago, man fell into darkness. They abused the gift of magic and used it for their own selfish intentions. This evil caused me to transform into a cursed creature, a black dragon of destruction."

Now calm, Lucy was able to think more clearly and understand what was going on. That only led to more questions, however. Why is it that she transformed now? How long has she been a dragon? So many questions filled her mind to the rim, and this would probably be the only time she would be able to ask them.

Hurriedly, Lucy asked every question she could think of in a single breath. "Are you still evil? Do I keep your key now? Will we be leaving this place soon? Are you happy to not be a dragon? Why is your name Acnologia? How many years have you been a dragon?"

Lucy gasped as she finished. She had started to lose track of the important questions at the end. Luckily, she had run out of breath. Hopefully Lucy hadn't offended the spirit.

Acnologia placed her index finger on her chin as she pouted. Looking up at the crystal ceiling high above, Acnologia thought about her answers. Lowering her purple eyes back down to Lucy, a wide smile donned the silverette's face.

"No. No. Yes. Yes. I have no idea. 6337."

Lucy blinked a few times as she cocked her head to the side. The blond pouted her own lips as she thought of more questions to ask. She had quickly came up with more, and was about to speak again when Acnologia held her hand up.

"Lucy, I know you have many questions, but I can not answer them. We do not have much time. The only reason I have returned to my true form is because you have defeated me in battle while inside this key. We do not have time to explain anything more so I will be frank. It has been over one week since your battle with me on Tenrou Jima Island."

Lucy waved her hands around to signal Acnologia to stop. "Wait, a week! How? ... A week?"

Acnologia nodded, "Yes, time flows similar to the Spirit World here, at a much faster pace. Now please, listen. Within this time, your husband attempted and succeeded in returning the key to you, but now he himself is dying. He removed my magic that had leaked into your body and took it into his own."

Acnologia paused, waiting to see Lucy reaction. In turn, Lucy's reaction was a reasonable one. Her eyes had opened wide and her slender hands had covered her mouth as a gasp escaped. Her breathing became heavy as she desperately searched Acnologia's face to in hope that she was kidding.

"Wh-what? D-dying? What can I do to help him?" Lucy grabbed Acnologia's shoulder clumsily, "Please, is there anything I can do to help Laxus?"

Calmly, Acnologia gripped Lucy's wrists and brought them down. Never taking her purple eyes away from Lucy's brown.

"There is. You can temporarily contain my soul, outside this key," Acnologia looked around the giant chamber, "in your body. Since I'm already a spirit, I'll instantly turn back into a dragon." Horror passed through Lucy's eyes as she said this. Acnologia quickly moved on with her explanation. "Even though my body and abilities will change back to that of a dragon's, my conscious will remain my own for a few moments, a minute at most. During this time, you'll have to fuse my soul with Laxus'. I'll submit to his and allow his to take control."

Lucy scrunched her eye brows in confusion. Fuse with Laxus, but that would mean she would disappear right?

"What would happen to you?"

"My conscious will become Laxus' conscious. My memories will become his memories. My powers will be added to his powers, etc. I will cease to exist, yet at the same time I will live on as Laxus."

"What do you mean?"

"Laxus will gain my memories and my powers. My conscious will fuse with his and become one." Lucy opened her mouth to speak once more, but Acnologia held her finger up. "No, his personality will stay the same. Now we must hurry, every minute we spend here his another hour in the real world."

Lucy nodded. She still had so many questions that she wanted to ask, but there were more important things to do first. And even if she wouldn't be able to ask them, so what? They were just questions. A person's life didn't depend on them being answered. But her leaving the key did.

"Alright, let's do it." Lucy closed her eyes. A few moments passed before she opened them once again. "Um, how do I leave?"

"Picture yourself waking up. That's all you have to do."

Lucy closed her eyes once again. She imagined she was in the bed at her home, slowly waking up next to a still sleeping Laxus. She couldn't wait for all this commotion to die down. To wake up every morning like that. Lucy opened her eyes yet again, but this time she didn't see Acnologia. Lucy was looking up at a ceiling. She wasn't in the chamber of the key.

She recognized this ceiling, too. Lucy was in the guild's infirmary. That meant Laxus was close. Laxus! Lucy quickly sat up and searched the infirmary. There! The thunder mage was only a few beds down. Hurriedly, Lucy ripped the bed sheet away from her and stood up on the bed.

Not wasting even a second, Lucy leapt from one bed to the other. One bed to the next, Lucy easily made the distance. As she reached the final bed, Lucy merely jumped to the floor.

Now that she was closer, and the beds were out of the way, Lucy could now see the condition Laxus was in was in. His body laid still, his breathing faint and nearly undetectable. His wrists and ankles were strapped with strips of leather tied together and connected to the legs of the bed. Around the straps, Lucy could make out dark and horrifying bruises. Lucy looked up at Laxus' face. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but his skin was nearly white it was so pale. Under his eyes were dark bags.

Suddenly, Lucy heard what sounded like Acnologia. Lucy wasn't sure what the spirit was trying to say. She sounded distant and weak. Lucy was only able to make out a single word.

Hurry.

That's right, she was on a clock. Lucy took another look at Laxus, and now only one thing came to mind. The author in her screamed not to do such a cliche thing, but she was running out of time. Lucy placed a hand next to Laxus' face, resting it on the pillow. Slowly, she leaned over. There it was, the feeling she had somewhat expected to feel. Lucy felt as if something was leaving her body. She could only guess that it was Acnologia leaving her body.

Lucy leaned back once she was sure that Acnologia had fully left her body. Looking over his body yet again, it was evident that Laxus' was already starting to recover. His skin was starting to return to its natural color. The bruises started to heal and were slowly disappearing. Even the bags under his eyes were starting to leave.

Lucy was sure that Laxus would wake soon. Knowing this, Lucy felt a sweat drop roll down the side of her face once she saw the leather restraints. Even imagining what Laxus would do if he woke up strapped down was embarrassing. Lucy sighed dramatically. Laxus could be a sweat heart when he wanted to be, like when he sang when the two had returned to the guild. Unfortunately, that wasn't very often. Lucy sighed a second time.

_Well, I might as well get started._

Lucy reached down and untied the knots around his limbs. As she untied the last knot, she heard a grunt escape Laxus' lips. A small smile formed on Lucy's face at the sound. The smile never left as Lucy continued her work on the last restraint. Almost magically, Laxus' hand enveloped Lucy's as soon as she released the newly untied knot. Looking up, Lucy's smile widened even more. It hadn't been magic. Gazing softly into Lucy's brown eyes were Laxus' own blue.

"Hey." Laxus' voice was rough, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep.

"Hey."

**A/N: **Such a cliche ending to this chapter, but I still like it. In truth, I was free the past two days, but I had literally no inspiration for this chapter. I was able to muddle by, but I knew that romance would be a big part in the end. To help me through that, I read four whole shounen-ai series over that time to help (yeah, that's right. I like shounen-ai, and I'm a guy. :P). So that ending might be a bit much, even though I don't know how it could, it might even be under-done a little. Oh well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and my rant


	23. Chapter 23: The End

**A/N:** Another late chapter, I am so sorry. But I have good reason this time. It pains me to inform you that this is the last chapter of Thunder Spirits. I was torn between updating this or not, but luckily the half that wanted to won. After a week of internal fighting within my mind, I bring you the final installment of Thunder Spirits. Enjoy~

Chapter 23: The End

After Laxus woke, he and Lucy told each other about what had happened after the battle with Acnologia. Both were such wild stories that anyone who wasn't in Fairy Tail wouldn't believe them. But that's the way it probably should be, unbelieved. The world didn't need to know about Acnologia's true form, or what happened to her. The world didn't need to know the ultimate purpose of Celestial Spirit Magic, about Spirit Magic.

That was when Lucy remembered something, something important. Looking Laxus straight in the eye, Lucy asked this ultimate question. "Do you feel any different? Different from before I woke you up?"

Laxus' eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to understand where Lucy was going with this. After a few moments, his eyes lit up as he finally understood what his wife was talking about.

"I feel as if someone gave me all their magic power. It feels as if my power has more than doubled itself from before."

Lucy nodded her head. That sounded right. Acnologia had said that her spirit would combine with Laxus'. Therefore, he also gained her magic and powers. But, would there be anything else he would have gained as well? Acnologia had said that she would willfully submit to Laxus' spirit so that his personality wouldn't change. The problem with that, though, was if Lucy had gotten to Laxus in time.

"Anything else?"

Laxus paused for a moment to think yet again. He must be tired, after all that has happened. Sure his physical injuries were healed, but he could still be deeply fatigued. Not to mention how exhausted his mind would be after his own struggles. It hurt Lucy, it really did, having to ask all these questions when Laxus probably just wanted to sleep. Looking back up at him, Lucy saw that he had finished thinking.

"I have memories that aren't my own. I remember flying through the sky high above a destroyed village. I remember fighting and killing a countless amount of people. I also remember times of talking with other Celestial Spirits and the Spirit King. I even remember the names of those spirits."

Lucy nodded again. "So you've gained both the power and the memories of Acnologia, plus who knows what else. I think that means everything went according to plan. I should probably make sure though, just in case."

Lucy's hands were still enveloped in Laxus' large one, so physical contact was already being made. Lucy activated her Spirit Magic, and began her search through Laxus' body for a second spirit. From what she could tell, there wasn't even a trace of another spirit within Laxus. His own sprit was different, but that was to be expected. A strong power emanated from Laxus' spirit. An indicator that it held Acnologia's power now as well.

Lucy removed her hands from Laxus' own and rested them on her lap.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Are you tired? Do you want to sleep some more?"

Laxus snorted at the question. "Tired? I feel like I could fight that fire idiot all week long!"

Lucy chuckled at her husband's exclamation. He was a lot more energetic then she thought he would be. Of course, she wasn't really tired either. Both of them had probably been out of it for a while.

"We should go tell the others we're okay, then. And besides, I think it's about time we announced our little surprise, don't you?" Lucy raised an eyebrow playfully as she said this. There were a lot of things that she and Laxus had hidden from the others, and there would probably be many more in the future.

With a smirk on his face, Laxus climbed out of bed. Offering a hand out to his blond wife, Laxus replied. "Surprise, or surprises?"

Uncharacteristically, Lucy smirked as well. Taking the now waiting hand, Lucy smiled up at her husband before starting her way to the door, Laxus in tow. "Definitely surprises."

**...**

Laxus and Lucy walked into the main hall of the guild building. As usual, it was filled with laughter and chatter. Mirajane was at the bar, cleaning a glass with a rag while chatting with Freed. Erza was off eating a slice of strawberry cheesecake. Levy was reading a book. Sitting next to her was Gajeel, scarfing down iron. Grey and Natsu were even fighting each other, same as always. Wait, Natsu?

Lucy looked up at Laxus, one eyebrow arched up high. Laxus only grunted as he took a few steps forward. Lucy sighed inwardly. She knew where this was going and she didn't necessarily like it.

With a voice that was loud enough to shake the walls, Laxus shouted out to the guild. "Yo! We finally wake up and you guys can't keep quite for two seconds? What the hell!"

The guild did the one thing Lucy had hoped they wouldn't, go quiet. Lucy sighed again, now it was awkward. Oh well, no sense in making it go on. Stepping forward herself, Lucy glanced around Laxus.

"What? It's not like we're dead. It's only been what?" Lucy looked up at Laxus. "A week and a half, right?"

Laxus only grunted in response. Lucy looked back towards the guild, and the next thing she knew, she was laying on the floor. Pain throbbed through her head as Lucy tried to see who had just tackled her. All she could see was bright silver hair and a poofy pink dress.

Laxus easily picked the barmaid off of Lucy with a single hand. Setting Mira down, he continued to help Lucy up with the other. Once she was on her feet again, Lucy leaned against Laxus for support. Rubbing her head, Lucy complained to Mira.

"Jeez, Mira. You know I'm pregnant, why did you tackle me?"

Suddenly the whole guild was in an uproar. Members grouped around Lucy, Laxus, and Mira. Everyone was yelling out questions of their own. Lucy merely sighed and looked up at Laxus.

"Do you want to or me?"

Laxus merely grunted again, but Lucy could feel his power start to rise. Lucy looked at Mira, who was trying to not be pushed against the two by the raving crowd. Grabbing hold of the barmaids hand, Lucy focused her magic in her legs and launched the two up into the air. A moment later, all the guild members that had been part of the crowd were blown back. Laxus stood where he did before. His hands were dug into his pockets as he looked up at the two women expectantly.

Two seconds later, Lucy and Mira fell to the floor of the second level with a loud thud. As the two helped each other up, the guild members started to herd around the bar. Each one of them were looking up at their master, who was sitting at his usual spot on the railing, expecting an answer.

Lucy whispered to Mira while they walked up behind Makarov. "You guys didn't tell them?"

"We thought you would want to instead."

Lucy sighed at Mira's answer. That wasn't at all surprising. In fact, it was predictable, even a bit cliche. "Well now I've let it slip twice, then. I need to get better at announcing things."

Lucy returned her attention to the master, who had started to talk again.

"Yes, it is true. Our beloved Lucy is with child. Whether it is a boy or a girl, not even I know. Now that Lucy has finally awoken, we can all know the answer to this question. Lucy?" Makarov turned slightly and waved Lucy over.

Standing next to Makarov, Lucy glanced over the crowd. Feeling a pressure on her shoulder, Lucy didn't have to turn around to know Laxus was now with her.

"I've been pregnant for a while now, almost two months. Normally a person wouldn't know the gender of their child at this stage. And even if we could, Laxus and I decided to be surprised and wait. But we do have something else to tell you."

Lucy paused. How should she say this? Should she elaborate more or just say it right out? Lucy didn't get to think it through because a few moments later, Laxus shouted it out.

"We're having twins!" Laxus then covered Lucy's ears, effectively muffling any noise she would hear. "So watch what you say you weaklings!" Laxus removed his hands from Lucy's ears.

Lucy in return glared up at Laxus. What did he say? She didn't get a chance to ask. The guild erupted into an uproar of cheers and shouts and whoops. But then everyone went silent as a certain pink haired idiot asked the worst question possible.

"Wait, does that mean Lucy's gonna get all big and whiney and have a belly like twelve feet big?"

The deadpan silence continued. Smiling warmly, Lucy easily jumped to the lower level, landing right in front of Natsu.

"Natsu, could I talk to you outside please?"

Smiling his toothy grin of his, Natsu foolishly agreed. "Course Luce, anything for you!"

As soon as the door to the guild closed behind the two, everyone silently whispered with each other. Pity for Natsu was never greater.

Up on the second floor, Laxus asked Mira and his grandfather the question that had been on his mind. "Spill it, how is the flame brain doing?"

Makarov looked up at his grandson. "We suspect that since he was separated from Acnologia for so long, there aren't any traces of him in Natsu anymore."

Laxus grunted before responding. "Her."

Makarov arched an eyebrow at the word. Mira tilted her head to the side. Confusion taking root in both. Bringing a finger to her chin, Mira studied the ceiling above for some sort of answer.

" Her? You mean Lucy?"

"No, Acnologia. Acnologia's a girl, and a celestial spirit."

Makarov's eyes widened in shock. "Acnologia was female? And a spirit!" There was a pause before Makarov spoke again. "How do you know?"

"Later, Lucy's finished beating that idiot to a pulp." As if on que, Lucy walked through the large entrance.

Silence ensued once again, all eyes were on Lucy. Lucy herself stared at all the members in return. Suddenly, her trademark smile appeared.

"I think it's time to party! Fairy Tail Style!"

Those words like a spell to the members of Fairy Tail as they switched into party mode. Barrels of liquor, enough so Cana didn't drink all, was brought out. Members jumped on top of the tables and started to dance. Karaoke was started on the stage. Chairs, and people, were thrown across the guild hall.

Hours later, the party was still going on. At the bar sat Lucy, Laxus and Mira, merely talking with each other. Thanks to his dragon slayer abilities, Laxus could hear the two woman just fine, unfortunately they didn't have that gift. One question asked by Mira, however, was easily heard by Lucy.

"So how did you heal Laxus? Not even Wendy could do anything."

With a wink and a finger to her lips, Lucy happily replied. "The way any fairy tale should, with a kiss."

**A/N: **Sniffle, sniffle sniffle, it's over. It's actually over. I can't believe it! And of course with ANOTHER CLICHE (slaps self)! Tomorrow (Sunday for me), I will once again start updating The Discovery: Part Two of the Guardian Trilogy. Hopefully. It depends on if I can actually find the time to do so. I have a busy day tomorrow, but I believe I can. If not, then it'll be first thing Monday.

Now, I'd like to thank all of you fanfictioners for reading this story, sticking with it through the late updates and everything. you are truly the best readers a person could have. To those who always gave happy reviews, urging me to update, thank you. To those who criticized what mistakes I made and pointed out how I could improve, even more thanks. I hope I get to see reviews from you all for a long time, wether they're my stories or not. Thank You.

**Lucy Ashley from Fairy Tail: **I'm glad you're so excited! Here it is!

**Serena Fallenheart:** Cliche's aren't necessarily bad things.

**iluvkawaiiness: **Great enthusiasm!

**Vatala Darkmist: **I'm sorry it was so emotional, but they were good emotions so it's okay. Sorry, it was soon though.

**Princess Happy: **Yep, a really old lady inside a young man's body….. FORGET I SAID THAT! YOU DIDN"T READ ANYTHING!

**GoldenRoseLuceTanya: **lol indeed

**JelloXGiggles: **I think this was a nice ending too, a bit cliche as well though

**xXRedPokerGirlxX: **lawl I had never thought of it that way

**harlequin320: **And now you know! :)

**Icetail1r: **Yeah… but that's all a part of the process, I'm still learning and I'm okay with that. I hope this chapter was a bit 'smoother' and easier to understand.

**Guest: to chapter 1 review: **I'm glad you liked it :) **to chapter 2 review:** Yes, you'll find spelling errors quite often, sorry about that. For some reason my word processor doesn't point out grammatical errors so I can't always fix them, sorry** to chapter 3 review: **roflmao **to chapter 4 review: ** I know right! **to chapter 5 review: **yep **to chapter 6 review: **suspense is so much fun to play with, isn't it?

**suikodengel: **Because Acnologia turned into a dragon, she 'lost her key' let's say, and since she fused with Laxus anyways Lucy wouldn't be able to have her key. I hope that clears up any confusion.

**Renna Diamond: **You compliment my idea for the story, and I end it the chapter after, so sorry


End file.
